Reunion
by kyaxskyxgoddess
Summary: SEQUEL TO THE NEW CHICK! READ THAT FIRST! Hermione is returning to Hogwarts for a five year reunion and her past awaits her there. WILL SOON INCLUDE ADVENTURES OF JULE!
1. Invitations

1Disclaimer: I didn't magically become J.K. Rowling overnight. Dammit.

SEQUEL TO THE NEW CHICK! YAY!

Chapter 1: Invitations

The whole evening was bound to be surreal. From the moment that she received her invitation, Hermione knew she was in for trouble. How could one return to the home they had finally distanced themselves from? But she decided to go anyway, because, after all, Hogwarts hadn't just been her school. So Hermione responded to the invitation promptly and sent the Hogwarts owl which had delivered it back the way it had come. The moment the owl had left Hermione realized what a mistake she had made.

Hogwarts was at least fairly realistic, when it wanted to be, so the invitation came with plenty of time before the reunion itself: Hermione had a whole month to fret over her impending doom. While she was sure she could simply not go, she was worried about offending McGonagle. Besides, it was just as exciting as it was terrifying to return to her old school.

Then on the logistical side Hermione had a fair bit of planning to do. It was absolutely essential that she look her best and she was dead set on doing just that. The invitation had said semi-formal, which meant formal, so Hermione had to consider her options carefully. With her job came a fair bit of formal celebration, but she didn't own anything she would enjoy wearing: it was all strictly professional and elegant. After all, the Minister of Magic's assistant had to be a perfect example of professionalism.

It only took Hermione a moment to decide that nothing she owned would do and that a little shopping was in order. Then there was the matter of her actual physical appearance.

After putting on a great deal of weight directly after school, Hermione had worked hard and was now in the best shape she had ever been in. She ran obsessively, although she still hated it as passionately as she had while at school. She dieted carefully and almost never ate sugar. Needless to say Hermione looked great and was starving for a piece of chocolate cake.

Like her clothing, her physical appearance had to be strictly professional. Even the slightest hint of immaturity or un-professionalism and the ministry would rethink appointing her as the youngest Minister's assistant to date. She was clearly being groomed for the job and would not only be the youngest Minister of Magic, but also the first female Minister in wizarding history. Therefore her curly brown hair was shoulder length, simply and generally worn in a bun, unlike the candy-apple red she had ended her school career with. Her make-up was as a rule plain and unexciting, often giving her an overly strict and mature look at the young age of 23 (she estimated that she was about 23, but it was hard to be certain due to her Time-Turner days).

Something had to change if Hermione were to make the impression she hoped to make. And especially if the one person she really wanted to see would be in attendance at the five year reunion.

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Draco carefully reread the invitation in his hand, stroking his chin thoughtfully and ignoring the impatient owl at his elbow. He sat in his favorite chair in the lavish library of Malfoy Mansion. It was right by a window overlooking his extensive grounds and the June breeze coming through the open window played gently over his pale skin, causing his silver-blond hair to wave slightly.

A five-year reunion, was it? Well, Draco had never heard of such an idea before. Perhaps it was a new idea of Dumbledore's, perhaps the teachers had never thought that the students really needed to know about it before. Or perhaps it was an older practice, suspended during the days of Voldemort and reinstated since Potter had defeated him one year earlier.

Whatever the reason, Draco's graduating class had been invited back for a semi-formal party in Hogwarts' Great Hall and gardens. Now Draco's only problem was whether or not he should go. The party itself was bound to be mundane at best and most of his former classmates were bound to be a pain. The Slytherins, or what was left of them, in particular promised to be rather irritating. Draco knew that Pansy was still alive and well and recently divorced from a much older pureblood, so she was definitely going to be a nuisance. Blaise Zabini, too, was a survivor, but he probably wouldn't be too bad. Crabbe and Goyle were both in Azkaban, but Draco didn't much care. Most of his other house-mates would probably be there which was definitely a strike against the party.

Then there were the other houses. Draco knew few Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs of enough significance for him to care whether they attended or not. Gryffindors, as a rule, he was mostly against. Potter was almost guaranteed to attend the reunion, and Weasley would probably be right behind him. That would be annoying, but perhaps tolerable if the third member of their trio came with them.

Hermione Granger. Draco hadn't seen her, hadn't even spoken her name aloud, in the five years since graduating. The last time he had been even kind of close had been on the platform of the train-station where Hermione had waved good-bye one last time before walking out of his life. But he had thought about her, almost constantly. His nights were haunted by dreams of Hermione and he scanned the newspaper every day for news of her.

Draco had been tracking Hermione's career very closely. He had frequently considered sending her notes to congratulate her accomplishments, but he had always been to afraid. What if she didn't respond? Almost worse, what if she did? How could he face her again? Draco often imagined speaking to Hermione, but he had no idea what he would say to her.

How do you greet the person who broke your heart (repeatedly) after five years of nothing, especially if you broke their heart back just as frequently?

If only he had a way of knowing whether or not she would be there too. Considering it for a while, Draco decided she probably would be. And besides, even if Hermione didn't go, it wouldn't be too taxing to get there and he could always leave early.

Scribbling a quick confirmation on the back of the card, Draco attached his invitation to the school owl's leg and sent off through the open window. Now to wait.

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Hermione put off deciding what to wear in a fit of nerves over Draco and put the reunion from her mind until the next day at work. She was on her lunch break and had gone to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Harry and Ron for lunch like they did every day. They worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as Aurors, having completed their training two years earlier. Harry's elevation to full Auror had come just in time for him to fight and defeat Voldemort, finally bringing the wizarding world to peace. At least, for now.

Since there was very little crime following Voldemort's downfall the boys spent most of their time at work doing ridiculous amounts of paperwork. Hermione had never expected to hear Harry wishing for an attack on the wizarding community, but he often did, hoping to alleviate his boredom.

Hermione and the boys had drifted apart for most of their training; their training had been extremely time consuming and Hermione's internship with the Experimental Department for Charms had also kept her busy. Besides, Hermione had become rather reclusive for the first year or so after school. But towards the end of their training the boys' schedules had calmed down a little and the trio had reconnected. By that time Hermione had worked her way up the department and the only thing keeping her from running it was the very elderly witch in charge who refused to retire. Hermione was moved into a low-level position in the Department of Mysteries and, after demonstrating her impressive organizational and communicative skills had been made the Minister's assistant. Now it was only a matter of time until Hermione herself became Minister, and she knew it well.

Since reconnecting the trio had vowed to stay close. A part of that vow involved eating lunch together everyday and sometimes going out all together, though Hermione was often too busy and the boys were often too tired, Ron in particular burdened by his home situation

At present Harry and Ginny were living together and most likely would soon become engaged. Ginny was working for Fred and George, helping to run several branches of their company, but had dreams of opening a Quidditch supplies shop of her own.

Ron had already married an American witch one year earlier (they had eloped in Las Vegas), which had completely surprised everyone. They were currently trying to get pregnant. Hermione never ceased to be amused that Ron had grown up the fastest. Hermione herself was single and lived alone, but she frequently visited her parents.

Harry and Ron were waiting for her when she reached the Leaky Cauldron. Harry looked stunned, but happy, and Ron was grinning in an extremely goofy manner.

"Hello boys," Hermione took the empty seat at their table. "What'd I miss?"

"Hermione, Ariel's pregnant!" Ron was practically glowing in happiness. "We found out this morning. I'm gonna be a dad!"

"Oh my God, Ron, that's great!" Hermione threw her arms around Ron's neck and gave him a firm kiss on his cheek. She looked at her childhood friend, feeling as shocked as Harry looked. They really were growing up.

"I was getting a little nervous, I mean we'd been trying for a few months and I was afraid something might be wrong," Ron continued.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ronald, my parents spent two years conceiving me. You just don't have anything reasonable to be compared to because you're a Weasley and you bunch breed like rabbits." Ron blushed. "And it seems Ariel is just as fertile as you are." She continued as he turned even redder.

"So, Hermione," Harry began, trying to change the subject from the fertility of his girlfriend's family. "Did you get your invitation yesterday too?"

Hermione instantly knew what he was talking about, since it was what she had been thinking about all day too. "Yeah. I'm going, how about you two?"

Harry nodded. "Me and Ginny'll be there. Ron?"

Ron looked indecisive. "I dunno, I mean Ariel won't know anybody, and maybe she should be resting."

"Ron, she'll know at least three people besides you. And besides, she'll only be one month pregnant or so by that time, not nine months. I highly doubt she won't be able to handle one night out." Hermione brushed off his worries almost callously.

Ron still seemed racked with indecision. "Come on, how fun can a school reunion be?"

"Open bar." Harry put in briefly. That made up Ron's mind for him.

"The best part is we'll have someone sober to look after us no matter what," Ron grinned after a moment. "Ariel won't be able to drink." The three laughed.

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The next day was a Saturday, so Hermione went dress shopping with Ginny and Ariel. At that particular time in wizarding pop-culture the cool place to buy dresses from was a little boutique in Diagon Alley called GemKay. It was a small chain of American designer stores, all designed by the unknown owner of GemKay. It sold everything from trendy, chain-covered rocker pants to elegant ball-gowns along with all kinds of shoes. One of the brilliant innovations of the designer was a charm that came with every article of clothing that made it grow with the wearer, making it possible for Ariel to buy a dress without worrying about gaining baby-weight by the time of the reunion.

Ginny, who loved shopping as much as she loved Quidditch or Harry, was in heaven. Everything she could possibly want from a dress shop all in one place. Ginny quickly chose a deep-red ball-gown that, while matching her hair nicely, would probably not clash too badly with whatever green thing Harry was bound to wear. Ariel took a little longer before choosing a pale yellow silk dress that complemented her pale skin and dirty-blond hair nicely. The cut would look flattering even if she gained a little weight and it looked very nice on her stick-thin frame.

Hermione took a little longer. She had always been very picky when it came to shopping, mostly because she hated wasting money. She roamed the boutique for quite some time, intent on finding the perfect dress. She would know it when she saw it, that much she was sure of. Turning a corner found her in the slightly odder part of the store and she knew she was on the right track.

Walking down each aisle in this part of the store was like walking through her seventh year. Every article of clothing practically screamed Jule to her, but Hermione knew it couldn't have anything to do with Jule. Could it?

Everything here was black, dark red, or things like hot pink or lime green. There were frills, spikes, chains, laces and tons of tulle. One wall was completely covered in lace- and button-up corsets in varying colors. Another wall was devoted to clunky steel-toed boots. Coming close Hermione was stunned to see that most of the tongues were adorned with tiny bats, although several held rampant lionesses and one pair of men's boots had wolves.

Hermione's ears rang. Could this be the work of the long-since vanished Jule? It really looked like it could be, and Jule had wanted to be a fashion designer... Hermione put it from her mind. If Jule were somehow involved in GemKay then it wouldn't make a difference either way: she would still be in New York City no doubt, if that was where she had really gone after leaving Hogwarts.

Hermione looked through the dresses. She wanted to return to her old style, but knew that it wouldn't be prudent to look too strange: after all, she had to work with many of the witches and wizards bound to be at the reunion and she couldn't let them damage her reputation or her career. She still occasionally heard about the rumors that she was a lesbian that had been started in her seventh year. She eventually decided on a long, slinky black dress. The under-layer was black silk and it was covered by an outer-layer of black lace in slightly spiky floral-esque designs. It had a plunging v-shaped neckline and tank-top type straps. The skirt was long and reached the floor when she wore black heels with it. Hermione was fairly content with her choice and payed for it happily.

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After buying the dress Hermione was able to put the approaching reunion out of her mind and avoided thinking of a certain blonde slytherin who was bound to be there until one week before the reunion. She had been looking into her bathroom mirror, considering hairstyles, when all of a sudden she had no longer been able to avoid the truth. Dropping the hair she held piled on top of her head, Hermione grasped the porcelain sides of her sink for support and gasped loudly. /This must be a panic attack/ Hermione thought wryly as she struggled to breath. She was going to see Draco again. How could she ever tell him the truth?

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Draco, for his part, spent the time leading up to the reunion thinking of little but Hermione. He had no job to occupy himself with, and he was usually fairly bored anyway. Thinking about it, it was no surprise that so many rich pureblood family resorted to crime and the Dark Arts: they had nothing better to do.

Draco had been enduring intense boredom for the five years since graduation. His mother had moved out of the mansion at his request and currently lived in a very fashionable town-house in London and owned several manors in France and Spain, as far as Draco knew. He couldn't really tolerate his mother, truth be told, and didn't spend much energy thinking about her doings. His father had recently received the Dementor's Kiss, but Draco hadn't gotten upset over it: good riddance to bad rubbish and all that.

Hermione, however, was always on his mind and this agonizing waiting was making it all the worse. Draco spent almost every moment on edge, thinking of the moment when he would see her again. It was driving him mad.

Such was his boredom that in recent years Draco had begun to consider taking up some sort of career. Quidditch was every little wizarding boy's dream, but Draco was honest enough with himself to admit that he wasn't quite good enough for that. Ministry jobs seemed frightfully tiresome and time consuming, so that was also out of the question. What was left? Draco had no skills or creations with which to set up any kind of business or shop. What he was good at was learning and studying. Maybe he should find some kind of apprenticeship: it would be something to do at least.

But either way, that had left Draco's mind for the moment: all of his attention was completely focused on Hermione. Would she look different? Would she be different? Would she think he had changed? He doubted the last very much; he hadn't done enough to change. But Hermione was bound to be different. For one thing she would almost definitely be more mature.

Two nights before the reunion Draco lay sleeplessly in bed, going through all this in his mind over and over again. Finally, fed up with himself and his nerves, he threw his pillow across the room and admitted aloud what he had been suppressing for five whole years. "I miss you Hermione," he whispered into the darkness of his room. "I want you back."

A/N: And so it begins again, mwahahahaha! Once again, if you didn't realize before, this is a sequel. Read the New Chick by me. Yay!


	2. Reunion

1Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I haven't received so many reviews so quickly since I posted the first version of The New Chick, so thank you everyone.

Okay, so punk-goth-hot-chick wanted me to focus more on Jule in this story. My only problem with that is that if I made Jule the main character of my story then this would be a complete Mary Sue. I personally don't like the thought that I write Mary Sues at all, but I've come to accept that, under the definition I found of what a Mary Sue is, The New Chick technically is one. But I don't want to be completely Mary Sue: I didn't invent Jule so that I could live in Harry Potter-land, I invented her because I know people like her and I wanted Hermione to be introduced to that kind of influence. So Jule is really kind of a tool. I didn't write her as well as I wanted to, but she turned out all right and she did what I invented her to (although in my original plan she would have turned out to be a junky, but I didn't want to go that far.) Any way, thanks for the suggestion and here's the reason I'm not following it.

To Virgin HORNINESS: haha, thanks for the review. I personally hate emo rock, but I thought that would be the kind of thing Jule would be into. The stuff Hermione did was supposed to be more rockish, but I guess that wasn't shown since I was too lazy to write lyrics.

Chapter 2: Reunion

Draco apparated to Hogsmeade and proceeded to march up the hill towards Hogwarts. He cursed himself for not bothering to bring a broom; he had forgotten all about the long uphill walk. It was funny what one would forget after only five years. So here he was, trudging uphill in dress-robes and fancy shoes. The right shoe had become scuffed from his labors and the left shoe pinched his toes terribly.

A few of Draco's former classmates were walking up as well, but no one Draco was particularly interested in talking to. So Draco kept his head down and continued to trudge up the hill. By the time he reached the top he was panting slightly and his both shoes were scuffed and both feet aching. Draco cursed himself again.

Hogwarts hadn't changed much: it never did. As Draco crested the hill leading up to the school and passed through the open gates around it, Draco surveyed his old home and felt a twinge. Was this nostalgia? Draco had no idea: he had never been nostalgic before. But that must be what it was because suddenly he was overwhelmed by a flood of memories so strong that he felt like he might fall over. There was the Astronomy Tower where he had gazed into the starry heavens and spoken to Dumbledore about Hermione. There was the greenhouse where he and the other students had slaved to repot shrieking, sometimes violent plants. There was Hagrid's hut; although Draco had never liked the oafish groundskeeper and had frequently made life difficult for him, he no longer felt any malice towards the half-giant. Far off in the distance Draco could see the Quidditch pitch where he had tasted both sweet victory and bitter defeat in equal measure. This was home.

As he stood between the open gates Draco remembered the night that Hermione, dressed as May, had kissed him in the middle of the road heading towards Hogwarts. He had walked through these same gates feeling on top of the world. Seeing the open, inviting green lawn Draco was tempted to change into his wolf form and run about, howling in remembrance. But that would look exceedingly odd, so he decided not to.

Pulling his black dress robes straight, Draco started up the path towards the castle. The summer sun was setting and the sky was striped from red at the bottom up towards dark blue at the top. The tops of the forest trees were gilded with the suns fading light. Obscured by the glorious sunset, Draco could barely see the pale moon already risen.

Draco observed all of this as he strolled along the path towards his old school. At length he reached the great doors and entered through the giant archway and moved on to the Great Hall.

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Hermione paced across her living room anxiously, hands nervously twisting and clenching together in front of her. She felt stiff and over-made up in her formal wear. The dress was comfortable and soft, but rather heavy. Besides, the high heels that Hermione wore with it made her feel slightly awkward and off-balance. In the years since graduation she had rarely gone out and had never worn this much make-up. Her face felt heavy and stiff, as if moving her face at all would make her skin crack. Her hair was the only thing that didn't feel uncomfortable; she wore it down in long loose curls. She changed her hair frequently now, but she had let it grow out for some time and it reached the middle of her back. The weight kept the curls from frizzing even without her charming her hair so that even naturally it looked pretty good.

The result of all Hermione's efforts was that she looked fabulous and could not sit comfortably for fear of wrinkling or mussing her perfectly groomed appearance. So she paced. She was waiting for Harry and Ginny to pick her up; Hermione had no desire to go to her school reunion completely alone. She would rather be the third wheel than the wallflower.

They were late. Hermione should have expected it: Harry took forever to get ready for parties and Ginny was a Weasley. Weasleys, because of their too-large families and generally scattered natures, were almost always late and never early for anything. Ginny was usually better than her brothers about being on time, but not by much.

With an exasperated exhalation of breath, Hermione gave up looking perfect and collapsed onto her large, white couch, eyes rolling back in her head.

"Why did I think I could do this?" She asked her ceiling. "I can't deal with all this shit."

She let her eyes rove her stylish London flat. She had decorated it herself and she thought that it suited her well. The living room was lovely: the walls were painted burgundy and the furniture was sleek and modern wood. The TV against one wall was fairly large and wide, but Hermione rarely watched it: she preferred the stuffed bookshelves lining another of the walls. A third wall was consumed by a large window overlooking the London city scape, but there was a chaise longue underneath the window. Hermione liked sitting there the best, reading, working or gazing at the stars. The living room didn't really have a fourth wall: it opened up onto a small kitchen which Hermione (who could NOT cook) rarely used. What she liked about the kitchen it's counters and matching stools where Hermione usually ate her take-out. To the left, past the bookshelf side of the room, was Hermione's bedroom. It also had mostly burgundy colored walls, but the wall behind her king-sized bed (covered in a white down blanket) was redder in hue to accent the room. One of the walls had a large window facing the same direction as the window in the living room. The wall across from her bed had book shelves like in the living room, but there were more personal knickknacks along with the books in her room. Throughout the flat there were a few paintings and classy looking vases scattered around. Hermione's home reflected Hermione herself: classy and neat. The fact that Hermione now made a fair bit of money helped.

She lay back on her couch and considered turning on the television, but knew that she would quickly become bored with whatever she might find. So she sat on her couch and waited.

How could she face Draco again? They had been closer than she had ever been to anyone else, but now she had grown and changed; it had been five years. Would he be different too? Hermione knew she definitely was, for the better she hoped. But what if Draco didn't think so? What if he thought she had been better a foolish, lost teenager? She wasn't the same girl he had known, and yet in other ways she had not. She was, at the core, still herself. And that meant that Draco would probably be the same too.

She still loved him. Hermione couldn't lie to herself. She would always love Draco; he had been her first love. But whether she loved him or not wasn't the question: What mattered now was what Hermione would do about it. Could they be together after all this time? Had they grown mature enough to make things work, or were they too different to ever be together again?

Hermione couldn't think about it right now. What she could think about was the fact that her friends were late and there would be hell to pay.

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Draco scanned the great hall. She wasn't here yet. Was she going to come at all? The thought of her not bothering to show up was unbearable; she was his entire reason for being here.

Draco didn't waste time thinking about what he would do when he saw her. He was a man of action, not thought, and he rarely planned what he did in advance of anything. He would know how to react to Hermione when he saw her and it would be useless to plan anything beforehand anyway. What did Draco know about the new Hermione anyway? She could be married for all he knew.

What Draco didn't know was that Hermione hadn't dated since graduation. At all. If he had bothered to read the Daily Prophet, specifically the gossip column, he would have known that. As Harry Potter's best friend, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and the Minister's assistant, Hermione was often discussed in wizarding magazines, tabloids, and gossip columns. The fact that she never dated raised many eyebrows and completely fascinated the wizarding journalistic community. Why would such a pretty, intelligent, powerful, and FAMOUS woman be single?

But because Draco didn't know any of this he spent quite some time staring at the door and imagining images of Hermione strolling in on the arm of some tall, handsome brute. Or worse yet, maybe she had gotten together with Potter or Weasley. That would be unbearable.

Draco moved to the open bar and ordered a scotch. He then proceeded to hide in a dark corner, ignoring the mingling of his former classmates, so that he could continue to stare at the door and drink.

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"Where have you two been?" Hermione demanded angrily as she allowed Harry and Ginny into her apartment. Ginny entered first, leaving a very awkward and embarrassed Harry to stand in the doorway.

"We just got held up, that's all." He ran a hand through his messy black hair.

Hermione looked at the couple critically. Harry's hair was always messy, but this was taking things to a new level. And Ginny, who looked wonderful, had a distinctly last minute look about her, as though she had thrown on her gown, painted on some makeup, and magicked her hair into place all in a matter of moments. Hermione felt a gnawing suspicion begin to grow in the pit of her stomach.

"You two were having sex, weren't you?" She demanded in irritation and amusement. They actually blushed. "Honestly, you're just like a couple of teenagers."

"Well, Ginny just looked so pretty..." Harry offered.

"And Harry looked very handsome," Ginny hastened to agree.

Hermione could only laugh. "Whatever, children. You don't need to make excuses to me. You're grown adults. But whatever will Mrs. Weasley say when I tell her?"

"You wouldn't!" Gasped Ginny, shocked and frightened.

"Oh, but I have to," Hermione smiled innocently. "I don't keep anything from dear Mrs. Weasley." Ginny, seeing to wicked glint in Hermione's eye that meant she was joking, relaxed.

"You bitch," she smiled.

"All right, I won't tell her." Hermione pouted cutely. "Now let's get moving; we're late enough as it is." The three of them pulled their wands from pockets and purses and proceeded to apparate to Hogsmeade.

"What're we gonna do about the hill?" Harry asked. "None of us is dressed well to walk up it."

"Look, there's a carriage," Ginny pointed. "We can get a ride."

What Draco (and many others) hadn't realized earlier was that there were several carriages at any given time in Hogsmeade that were perfectly willing to carry people from town to the school. The teachers used them frequently to get away from work and get a drink in the town without having to walk or fly. Five minutes and one galleon later and the three friends were already outside the Hogwarts gates. They would walk from there.

Hermione gazed around. The sun had completely set by this time and the entire landscape was silvered by the moon. It looked cold and mysteriously beautiful. The lake rippled like molten steel and everything looked oddly dreamlike and tranquil. The moon itself was a Cheshire cat grin shaped crescent and the sky looked like a thick carpet of stars and tiny, far-off planets.

They had reached the big double-doors of the castle. Within a moment they were inside and at the entrance to the great hall. Hermione took a deep breath and stepped through.

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Draco was still sipping on his first drink. He wanted to be careful not to go overboard on a night as important as this. If Hermione actually showed up he didn't want to seem foolish. If she didn't come he didn't want to dissolve into a drunken, depressed mess. And he knew he would.

At that moment a vision appeared in the doorway. Dressed in a long, sleek black gown with long curly brown hair flowing down her back. At her neck a ruby and gold necklace winked and similar earrings adorned her lovely ears. She was tall and slender and healthy looking. Hermione.

Draco was paralyzed in wonder. He longed to leap from his seat, to run over to her and sweep her into his arms and kiss her until she went limp. He wanted to grab her and hold her and never let go, not like last time. But he couldn't. All he could do was sit and stare as Hermione came in with Potter and the Weaslette. He continued to watch as she embraced old friends and laughed at fond memories. He watched, drinking her in, for almost fifteen minutes before anything happened. She was looking around, for him he hoped, and her eyes finally alighted on his secluded little corner. Her glorious brown eyes widened in wonder, her pale cheeks took on a flush of rosy color, and her hands trembled gently. She tenderly nibbled at her lip before moving forward, towards Draco.

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Hermione felt her heart quicken and hoped she didn't look as shaken as she felt. He was really here. She grabbed a martini from the tray of a moving house-elf and sipped it carefully, still moving towards Draco. This was it, the moment she had awaited. She felt like turning and running, apparating home to cry and hide and pretend this wasn't happening. But she couldn't. She was drawn towards her former love, like a moth to a flame. Something magnetic pulled her forward and she was helpless against it.

"Hello, long time no see," was all she could muster as silver eyes met brown.

He smirked sexily. "Ain't that the damn truth?"

TBC...

Sorry about the delay and the cliffy, but I had to stop it there or I wouldn't be able to draw this story out long enough. It's been busy: I've written like three essays in the past week and my grandfather just passed away. So it goes.

http/ you couldn't picture the dress I your head, this is the basic cut to it. Just think of this without that white part and with another layer of lace over it.


	3. Reunited

I would like to thank everyone who expressed their sympathies for my grandfather. I would also like to give a special thank you to Ravencries for your review. I think you're the first reviewer to realize, or at least tell me you realize, that The New Chick is really Hermione. Hurray for self discovery!

On with the story!

XFrom Last TimeX

"Hello, long time no see," was all she could muster as silver eyes met brown.

He smirked sexily. "Ain't that the damn truth?"

Chapter 3: Reunited

Hermione couldn't help but smile back. The glint in Draco's eye was infectious. He had always had very powerful eyes: the slightest hint of arrogance or disdain could fuel Hermione's anger while any mirth could make her smile. Draco's eyes were slightly guarded tonight, but he seemed in relatively good cheer.

"How've you been, Draco?" Hermione sat down across from her former lover, still not breaking eye-contact.

"Alive. And you?" Draco replied shortly, sipping his drink.

Hermione took a moment to do the same before responding. "Fine. Surviving. Had you heard that I was the Minister's assistant?" She blushed slightly with pride.

"Of course."

"Then you know the gossip? What they write in the papers?"

"What gossip? I don't read the papers."

"Then how do you know my job?" Hermione stared at him keenly.

"I have friends within the ministry," Draco responded mysteriously. Hermione rolled her eyes. "But what is this fascinating gossip you speak of?" He was smirking again.

"Same old garbage. You remember those lesbian rumors?" He nodded. "Those are still around. And for some reason the Daily Prophet likes to theorize about my love-life, lesbian or heterosexual."

"So you're seeing someone then?" Draco couldn't stop the slight frown that escaped the otherwise strong control he held over his facial expressions.

Hermione smiled at his disappointment. "No. Are you? Did you finally marry Pansy?" She smirked at his disgust. "Then do you have a girlfriend?"

He simply shook his head. He was staring at her intently and Hermione felt as though his eyes were burning into her. There was a slightly awkward silence for a moment as they stared at each other. Then Draco surprised Hermione by breaking the silence suddenly. "Would you like to dance?"

"Yes," was all that she could say.

They stood in unison and he took her small hand in his own larger one. They walked forward together, still looking at one another, and took up a place on the dance floor. It was, of course, a slow song. If any of their former classmates found it odd to see Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy dancing together no one said anything. Even if they had spoken, the couple wouldn't have heard; Hermione and Draco felt cut-off from the world. They floated in their own world, eyes seeing only the other, ears hearing their matched breaths. Hermione could barely even feel the floor anymore: all she could feel was his body pressed up against her own.

"You've certainly stayed in shape," Hermione murmured after a time, hand lightly squeezing his biceps.

"I have a lot of free time. You've lost weight," He tightened his grip around her slender mid-section, drawing a squeal from the surprised Hermione. She slapped his arm gently.

"Are you implying, Malfoy, that I was fat before?" She raised an eyebrow at him, making sure he knew to answer the question the right way.

"Not fat, merely a little bit more... voluptuous," Draco answered carefully. "Either way, you looked good then and great now, that's all I meant to say. Honestly, a man can't even give a simple complement anymore." Hermione rolled her eyes, but they were both smiling.

"You never answered my first question properly," Hermione stated after a few more moments of silence. "It's obvious that you've been alive, but how are you really? You know all about my life and I know nothing about yours."

"That's a difficult question to answer. More difficult than I'm sure you intended it to be." Hermione looked at him questioningly. Draco decided he felt like clarifying. "Well, overall I guess I've been alright. After all, like I said before, I have been alive, so I guess in that respect I've done fairly well. But I haven't been happy," he said it frankly, in a matter of fact tone which made it clear how serious he was. At this time he was studying a lock of Hermione's hair which he had twisted around his finger, carefully avoiding her searching gaze. "I don't have a job to throw myself into, I haven't got any real friends, only acquaintances, most of whom I can't really stand. The only family I've got is my mother, and you know how I feel about her. So I alternate between boredom and loneliness." He paused, took a deep breath, and continued carefully. "And I spend a whole lot of time thinking about you, and us, and why things didn't work and what life might've been like if they had." At this he looked into Hermione's eyes.

She could hardly breathe. Those silver eyes were full of such open sadness that Hermione could hardly bare to look into them. But bare it she must, because Hermione knew for a fact that that pain was her own doing and that she must confront and accept it. So she didn't flinch and she didn't look away. She did, however, tighten her grip on Draco, holding him as close as she could and letting him know, without words, that she understood.

"Draco, I–" she began, but she was cut off by a loud bang as some slammed open the main doors to the Great Hall.

"Well, as I live an' breathe!" Shouted someone in a loud, fake southern accent. "Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, dancin' in each otha's arms. Well, who'da believed such a blessed occurrence could take place here, in these hallowed halls? I mean, I sho did, but how could anabody else without my gift o' prophecy? Lode knows, even I am slightly winded by this discov'ry."

Pulling out of Draco's arms, Hermione whipped around to see a most welcome sight: the elusive Jule stood on the lintel of the Great Hall, staring intently at Hermione and smiling broadly. Hermione yelped in delight before racing over to greet her old friend.

"Jule, you look wonderful!" Hermione cried, embracing the American witch.

Most of the former students in the Great Hall that night would beg to differ. Jule's hair was vibrantly purple and worn in a short, spiky mohawk. The rest of her head was covered in short, brown stubble. Her ears were as covered in metal as ever and she had the new decorations of a nose ring, an eyebrow ring, and a lip ring. She positively glittered. Her lipstick was deep red and her eyes were outlined darkly in her usual black eyeliner. Her bare arms and upper back held several tattoos: a golden lion rampant, in honor of Gryffindor no doubt, covered her upper left arm. A large bat was tattooed in black on the back of her neck and her right upper arm was encircled by a black, Celtic band.

In contrast to her rather peculiar general appearance she wore an elegant, long black ball gown. It was much finer and more classic looking than Hermione's own dress, which she liked to think was rather fabulous. But, true to Jule's nature, when she held up her skirt to step forward the same black boots she had worn all through school adorned her feet.

"Did you get that dress at GemKay?" Hermione asked casually, leading Jule across the dance floor towards the table she had shared with Draco. Draco, lurking over by the wall now, scowled at this interruption. There he was, baring his heart to the only person he had ever loved, and her lesbian best friend stole her away as always.

"Darlin', I am GemKay," Jule answered flippantly. "Started out on a cart in the wizarding part of the Village (A/N: for those of you who don't know anything about New York, the Village is a part of downtown Manhattan where weirdos such as Jule tend to hang out. Unfortunately, most of those weirdos also happen to be poseurs. I also personally believe that any New York Diagon Alley would most likely be located there.) and just sort of sprouted from there."

"The name certainly fits," Hermione smiled.

"I did think I was awfully clever when I came up with it," Jule had dropped her southern drawl. "But let's ignore my fabulous success and talk about yours! Little miss future Minister of Magic. That's pretty exciting, eh? And dancing with Mister Draco Malfoy. You two married yet?"

"Actually we broke up right around graduation. He finally figured everything out."

"That's what happens when friends fall out of touch," Jule announced. "You're always about five years behind the news. So, anyone else interesting in your life?"

Hermione faltered here, considering her options carefully. She had always been extremely honest with Jule, and even though five years had passed she felt as close to her as ever. But should she reveal the secret she had kept, even from Harry and Ron, for the five years since graduation?

"You could say that," she eventually said.

"Ooh, a man?"

"No."

Here Jule's interest was really sparked. "A woman then?"

Hermione, smiling and laughing softly shook her head. "Not exactly."

"Well, who then?"

"You'll find out eventually, if you decide to stick around long enough." Hermione looked Jule up and down. She looked so similar and yet so different. Happier, for one thing, and healthier besides that. "You are going to be here for a while, aren't you?"

"Well, if I'm asked sweetly..." Jule trailed off. Hermione batter her eyelashes at her and smiled winningly. "Who could turn down a request like that?" Jule laughed.

"Jule?" Harry's voice came incredulously from behind Hermione's head. She turned around to see him and Ginny, holding hands, and staring at Jule.

"Harry Potter, I do declare. And accompanyin' the young Miss Weasley, how absolutely charmin'," Jule was drawling again. "And look, anothah original GemKay design. Ya'll certainly do spoil me."

"Excuse me?" Ginny smiled in polite confusion.

"Might I present," Hermione began by way of explanation. "The creator of GemKay, Jule McKay."

"Congratulations, Jule!" Harry slapped her back exuberantly. Clearly the days when he might try to give her a "congratulatory" kiss were gone.

"Why thank you, my dear," Jule replied flippantly. "And where is the other darlin' Weasley?"

At about that time Ron and Ariel, holding hands, came wandering over. "Jule!" Ron exclaimed. The whole exchange was basically repeated with few minor differences.

"So, Jule, seeing anyone lately?" Harry eventually asked. By this time they had all taken seats around the table and Harry was nestling Ginny's head under his chin. Ron was rubbing Ariel's flat stomach and Hermione was drinking. Jule observed all this with a rye smile on her face.

"Darling, I'm seeing everybody. They just don't all know it yet," she smirked.

"And that works how?" Ron raised an eyebrow, still rubbing his wife's stomach.

"Well, if you don't know, I won't tell you," Jule's nose pointed up into the air. This, like about everything else Jule had ever told him, confused Ron immensely. But he let it go, more interested in kissing Ariel's hands than getting clarification.

Hermione, despite the slight loneliness she always felt, smiled around the table. This was as it should be, all of her best friends sitting around a table, catching up on old times. But one face was missing, and she turned to seek it out in the crowd.

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Draco was still scowling at Hermione's back, but by now he had moved to the bar. He was sipping a scotch when Hermione turned around to return his look. She was smiling softly and actually looked happy. Well, good for her, Draco thought bitterly, tossing back his drink in one gulp. At least one of them should be happy.

What was Hermione doing now? Draco knew he was slightly buzzed, but not enough so to be hallucinating, surely? She was waving someone over and Draco got the distinct impression that that someone was him. But she was with her friends, what could she possibly want with Draco? Shrugging, Draco grabbed himself another scotch and a martini (Hermione seemed fond of those for some reason) and made his way towards the table.

"Mind if I join you, Golden..." he took a moment to count them all. "Sextet. Well look at that, you've doubled."

Potter and Weasley looked rather confused. Potter was about to say something when Hermione interrupted him. "I'm sure we would all be delighted if you would join us Draco. Is that for me?" He nodded as Potter and Weasley, and now the Weaslette as well, opened their mouths in shock.

"Are we all delighted?" Potter asked dubiously. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about this. He had gotten over hating Malfoy sometime before but he sure as hell wasn't fond of him.

"Well if you're not, I am," Hermione nibbled her olive delicately. "What about you Jule, are you delighted?"

"I'm positively ecstatic," Jule replied dryly, grinning at Draco. He decided to grin back. Even if Jule had been in love with Hermione when they had been together, she seemed decent enough.

"The three of us go way back," Draco explained to Potter offhand. "Jule here taught Hermione and I how to be animagi."

"By the way, did you two ever figure that out in the end? I'm afraid I wasn't much of a teacher," Jule, as was her way, was neither apologizing nor fishing for compliments with this statement. It was merely the truth and Draco knew it.

"No, you weren't," he agreed. "McGonagle taught us in the end. Then, after a very... interesting evening, Hermione and I finally figured it out for ourselves."

Hermione smiled secretively, remembering the night he spoke of. The memory no longer stung, although it did throb slightly. That had been the night he had lost his trust in her, not that she deserved his trust. But it wasn't like he had deserved hers either.

"Excuse us, but what are the three of you going on about?" Ron asked eventually. He, Ariel, Ginny, and Harry were staring in open confusion at the threesome at the other end of the table.

"Nothing you really need to know about," Draco replied somewhat snidely. He doubted Hermione really wanted her friends to know everything about their past. His guess was proved true as Hermione glanced away in slight embarrassment. But Draco didn't care. He didn't need people to know how he felt as long as Hermione did. Right now it was enough just to be this close to her.

"It was a long time ago," Hermione muttered to her friends, hating her own cowardice. She justified it by telling herself that even if she did tell them the truth, now was not the time, not like this.

"Hermione, could I speak to you for a minute?" Draco startled everyone by asking. "In private, I mean."

Ron still looked as clueless as ever, but Harry raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Ginny. Ariel seemed to be sensing the same thing they were; things were not as they seemed.

"Uh, of course," Hermione rose falteringly from her seat and followed Draco away from the table and towards the exit. When they had gained a little distance from the others he reached out his hand to hold Hermione's, causing Harry's brow to shoot up higher.

"What's all this, eh?" Ron asked, gesturing at the hands.

"They were dancing together earlier," Ariel told him.

"What?" Harry and Ron demanded in unison.

"Ron was in the bathroom and you and Ginny were kissing in that corner over there," Ariel waved her hand absently. "I guess you all missed it. I didn't think much of it earlier, I just figured it was some old friend of Hermione's."

"Not exactly," Harry frowned in puzzlement.

"That's what you may think," Jule smirked.

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Hermione let Draco guide her out the front door and into the gardens. Everything was peaceful and dark; crickets chirped gently in grass and Hermione heard the hooting of owls in the distance. They found a nice bench to sit on and Draco guided her onto it, sitting inches away from her and twisting to look into her face.

"Is there something you wanted to discuss?" Hermione asked nervously. It was different to be alone in the dark with him like this.

"Only what we were talking about earlier," Draco was gazing earnestly into her eyes. "You were about to say something when Jule arrived."

"Oh, that." Hermione looked down. She couldn't look at his eyes. "I was going to say that I think a lot about us too. About what might've been. About what could be..." This last part was all but whispered, but in the still night air Draco heard her perfectly.

"Could be?" He found himself smiling tentatively, lips twitching nervously. Looking down he found that his hand was shaking. Taking Hermione's once more he felt hers shaking as well. He clasped it tightly in both of his own.

"Isn't that why we're both here?" Hermione smiled tremulously at him, meeting his eyes. Her eyes seemed watery, almost glassy.

Draco had no answer but to kiss her. He pulled Hermione forward in a sudden flash of movement. Although he was bodily moving her closer, his touch was gentle and Hermione found herself cradled in his arms. He leaned down, savoring the familiar feeling of being this close. He gently brushed his lips against hers before immediately deepening the kiss. They kissed with an urgency that neither had really known they possessed. Hermione felt herself melting into his arms and would have been content never to move again. But eventually the kiss did end and Hermione drew in a shaky breath. She was trembling even more than before.

"I've missed that," Draco murmured lazily, kissing her jawbone as he traced circles on her bare arm with his finger. "I've missed a lot of things, as a matter of fact."

"So have I," Hermione breathed.

"Wanna get out of here then?"

"Of course."

And, hand in hand, they walked out of the gardens and away from Hogwarts, moving towards Hogsmeade where they could apparate away.

TBC...

A/N: So they're kind of back together, and I know it's only been three chapters, but no worries, there is much more plot and intrigue to come. Hermione's keeping secrets again, and a million dollars (or at least my love) to whoever can guess what they are.


	4. Oh Baby!

Chapter 4: Oh Baby!

Hermione lazily traced circles on Draco's chest, feeling more content and relaxed than she had in years. The smell of Draco was overwhelming, and the feel of his warm body next to hers was so comfortingly familiar.

"I didn't think I'd ever be in this position again," Hermione murmured, nestling further into the crook of Draco's arm.

"Oh ye of little faith," Draco replied, pulling her closer to himself. "I always knew it couldn't end like that. We left too much unfinished. There were too many things we never had together."

Hermione cuddled up closer to his body, enjoying the heat of his skin on hers and sighing contentedly.

"So," Draco continued casually. "Will you still be here when I wake up this time?"

The question was asked half-jokingly, but Hermione wasn't fooled for a moment. She did have a great track record of leaving while Draco slept. And besides, Hermione knew Draco and knew that he was completely serious.

"Well," she began slowly. "First of all, this is my house. So I don't really plan on running out early in the morning. Second of all," and here she paused to look at Draco's face. "I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be than lying here next to you when you wake up."

Draco smiled genuinely. Draco had a beautiful smile; it was a slow movement, a lifting of lips slightly more to the left than the right with a glimpse of bright, white teeth glinting through only slightly. But an honest smile from Draco was also a rare sight, and all the more beautiful for its rareness. His usual smirk was rarely a sign of mirth, rather a cocky slap in the face to anyone who looked at it, or maybe a tool for flirtation, but Draco was almost never happy when he was smirking.

"That's good to hear," Draco kissed her briefly. He stretched out, yawning widely. "What time is it?" He said through his yawn.

"Almost three." Hermione frowned slightly, but Draco was gazing at her bedroom ceiling and didn't notice. When could she tell him the truth? She knew that the longer she lied to him the worse things would be when the truth came out, but no moment seemed appropriate. When was the time right to expose a secret that had been kept for five years?

"Draco, I–"

"I love you, Hermione," Draco interrupted. "I don't think I've ever told you that."

"Yes, you have." Hermione had no other reply to offer him.

"Not when you were being you, though. I've told you I loved you when you were May, but never Hermione." He was looking at her now. All Hermione could do was smile at him and give him a kiss.

"I still love you, too."

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When Draco woke up Hermione was still sleeping. There was an odd compulsion, a strange feeling in his gut, to leave her as she slept as had been done to him too many times. Why not take revenge, make her feel that same displaced humiliation and confusion when she woke up alone. It was so tempting.

But not tempting enough. As Draco looked at that sleeping face, so soft and relaxed in repose, he knew he could never go through with it. He could never abandon her the way she had abandoned him, even if she did deserve it. He loved her too much to sabotage this new beginning and to lose her again as he was just rediscovering her. They did have unfinished business, and Draco would be damned if he would leave things that way.

Deciding to make up for his evil thoughts, Draco climbed out of Hermione's bed and crept down the hall towards her kitchen.

The refrigerator door held a few photographs, several of Hermione with Potter and Weasley, a few of an older muggle man and woman, presumably Hermione's parents. None of these were especially surprising, but what puzzled Draco were the pictures he saw of a young child. There were a few baby pictures and more photos depicting the same child through the years. At first Draco thought the little girl was Hermione as a child, but this girl had pale blond curls and her skin was slightly paler than Hermione's slightly darker skin tone. Her features were a lot like Hermione's; aside from her coloring she practically looked like a clone. At first Draco could brush this off, assuming that perhaps this was some young relative of Hermione's who happened to bare a striking resemblance to her. But then he saw a picture that was close-up of the little girls face. Her eyes were a pale silvery gray, a peculiar color that Draco had only seen in two places: his father's eyes and his own.

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Hermione awoke sometime later. She was more relaxed than usual and, thus, had slept later than she normally would have. When she opened her eyes she saw a peculiar sight: Draco, sitting at the edge of the bed, cradling something in his hands.

"Draco?" Her voice was hoarse and slightly cracked from sleep.

Draco turned around slowly. His face was an interesting combination of confusion and anger.

"What the fuck is this?" He held up one of the pictures he had found, the one that showed the little girl close up.

Hermione paled instantly but didn't back down from his intense gaze. She cleared her throat, breathed deeply, and licked her lips before answering. "Her name is Heloise. She's my daughter."

Draco raised his eyebrow incredulously. "Your daughter?" The word your was heavy with meaning.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Our daughter. Yours and mine."

Draco had already known it was coming, but it hit him heavily all the same. He stood awkwardly, looking around for some answer or validation, hands clenching and twisting uncontrollably, but being careful not to damage the photograph he held in his hands. "H-how... When–why didn't you tell me?" He was close to yelling but not quite. Before Hermione could answer he asked another question. "How old is she?"

"She's four years old. She was born about nine months after graduation."

"That night..." Draco trailed off.

"Yes, the night before graduation."

"But we used–"

"Birth control doesn't always work."

Draco paced up and down, running a hand through his messy hair, making it even worse. But still he cradled that picture ever so gently in his hand. For a moment he was wordless, but then he burst out more violently than before.

"Why didn't you tell me!" He yelled. "If not through the years we were apart, why not last night!"

"I don't know!" Hermione yelled back. "I don't know why. It just didn't seem like the right time, alright?"

"You and your secrets," Draco shook his head in disbelief. "You and your goddam secrets." Grabbing his things Draco apparated home.

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It only took Draco one hour to destroy a few priceless family heirlooms (vases, paintings, etc.), to scare the house elves away from the house, and to demolish a picture of Hermione. After he had done all this, he repaired the photograph, called the elves back, and collapsed into a chair in his study. Luckily his mother was on a trip to Venice and wasn't around to bother him. Now all he had to do was think of what to do next.

He was mad at Hermione. Hell, he was furious. He didn't think that he had ever been this angry with anyone in his entire life. But he did still love her. And either way, now there was someone else to think about.

A daughter. Draco had a daughter. That had been surprising, to say the least. It hurt him to think that there was a piece of his own flesh somewhere that he had never met, never spoken to, never held. He couldn't let his anger with Hermione get in the way of meeting his daughter.

Heloise. A peculiar name, to be sure, but so was Hermione and so was Draco for that matter. Either way, it was a very pretty name, French no doubt. Draco still had the photo he had found in Hermione's flat. Heloise was the perfect combination of the two of them, Draco's startlingly fair coloring with Hermione's beautiful features.

Draco made a decision. From that moment on he would be a father. Not a father in the sense that he had impregnated a girl. And not a father like his own had been: cruel, abusive, and possessive. No, he would be there for his daughter; she would never go without and he would protect her from any danger he possibly could. Draco would be a good father. Hell, anything would be better than what he had gone through with his father.

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Hermione gazed out of her window over the city-scape of London. A light drizzle was falling, making the world outside as murky and dim as Hermione felt.

She didn't know how she had let things get this bad. It had always been her intention to tell Draco eventually, but at first she had been afraid to face him again and later she simply hadn't known how. How exactly does one approach a former love and simply come out and tell them: "I know we haven't seen each other in a few years, and I know I broke your heart, but you should know we have a kid." There simply hadn't been a good opportunity. And the whirlwind of last night hadn't exactly been full of opportunities to tell him; they were too wrapped up in seeing one another again.

A tap on Hermione's window caught her attention. Looking up, she saw an owl outside the hovering outside. She let the owl in, caught the note it dropped in her hands, and closed the window as it soared away. The note was in Draco's hand and read, simply:

Hermione,

I can't deal with you right now, but some things are more important. I want to meet her.

Draco

Hermione didn't need to think to know who Draco meant.

TBC...

So, here is the list of people who guessed correctly:

LUNA GURLZ, Ravencries, grack, and Turtle

Congratulations reviewers!

Also, sorry this is so short: it was the place to stop though.


	5. Teaparty

1SORRY this is so late! I'm away for the next few weeks and I've been having trouble getting online. My bad!

Chapter 5: Tea Party

Hermione left her flat, feeling in no mood to even get out of bed, but knowing better. After all that she had done to Draco she owed him this at least. So, in the early morning light, she walked through London towards the house she had grown up in.

It was a fair sized townhouse in a neat, nondescript part of London. While clearly not the home of very wealthy people, it did look as though the owners would be fairly prosperous. Hermione's parents had bought the house shortly before her birth and had lived there ever since. They had originally planned on having more children, but complications with Hermione's birth had stopped that. Therefore there were several extra bedrooms in the house; one had become a study, one was Hermione's old room (where she still stayed every now and then) and another was Heloise's room.

There were three major reasons why Heloise lived with her grandparents. First of all, Hermione had been young when Heloise was born and had doubted her own ability as a parent. Second of all, being a young, unwed mother was unlikely to help Hermione's career any. And third, and most shameful of all, Hermione hadn't wanted her friends to know about Heloise. She had hidden during her pregnancy and they had never known the difference. This was, of course, because of Heloise's striking resemblance to her father: any wizard who looked into those grey eyes would instantly recognize her Malfoy blood.

So Heloise had remained a secret, living with her grandparents and occasionally seeing Hermione. Hermione had little room in her flat for a toddler, so she often stayed with her parents to spend time with Heloise. But there was always the point when she had to leave Heloise, trying to ignore the crying child as she reached for her mother. Of all the bad things Hermione had ever done, she hated herself the most for neglecting Heloise.

Hermione used her key to enter the townhouse. Sure enough, her mother was in the kitchen and Heloise was drawing on the living room floor.

"Mama!" Heloise shouted, jumping up from the ground and running towards her mother. "I drew you a picture today!" The little girl proudly held forth a crayon drawing of a small blond girl holding a taller, brunette woman's hand. They both had curly hair and large grins.

Hermione smiled as genuinely as she could. "Oh, Heloise, it's lovely. Should I take it home with me or have Grandma hang it on the fridge?"

"You can have it," Heloise shrugged indifferently, bored with adult's obsessive need to hang things up. "It's just a picture," this last was said with rolling eyes, making it clear that she found her mother's ideas foolish and slightly childish. Oh, the infinite wisdom of children.

"I think I'll take it home with me then," Hermione folded it up and placed it in her pocket, knowing that Heloise was secretly pleased. "How would you like to meet a friend of mine? Later today maybe?"

"What kind of friend?" By this time the little girl was drawing again, little forehead creased in intense concentration as she gently nibbled her lower lip.

"A friend from school. Will you meet him?" Hermione had no doubt that Heloise would realize who Draco was once they'd met: after all, she was her mother's daughter.

"What's his name?"

"Draco Malfoy. You have to be polite to him, okay?" At Heloise's nod Hermione stood. "I need to talk to Grandma, you keep drawing."

Mrs. Granger was a prominent looking woman; she was a fair bit taller than Hermione with slightly darker, straighter brown hair. Her eyes were vibrantly brown and snapped with passion quite frequently, especially towards her daughter. She spoke flawless English with only a very slight French accent, having lived in England since she was a young girl.

"Hermione, what a pleasant surprise," Mrs. Granger was baking, her hands covered in flour and a big smile on her face. "Any particular reason for this visit?"

"I saw Draco at the reunion last night," Hermione sat down at the kitchen table. "He knows about Heloise now."

"Well it's about time," Mrs. Granger didn't bother to turn around as she spoke to her daughter, she merely continued to need dough. "I've told you time and again, a young girl needs her father. You're father's been doing well enough, but it isn't the same. Grandfathers are supposed to spoil their granddaughters, not raise them."

"I know," Hermione rubbed her forehead, feeling the headache she often got from talking to her mother for too long. "Do you have any tea?"

"Of course there's tea. Make yourself some," Mrs. Granger continued to briskly pound her dough as Hermione put the kettle on to boil. "Make me a cup while you're at it."

"What are you doing Mother?" Hermione asked, perplexed. It wasn't that her mother couldn't cook, it was just that she never really had all through Hermione's childhood. She had always been to busy at the office Mr. and Mrs. Granger shared.

"I'm baking Heloise a pie," Mrs. Granger answered matter of factly. "We were going to have a tea party later, would you like to join us? All the dolls will be there."

"You shouldn't spoil her so much," Hermione admonished, standing as the kettle whistled. "You of all people should know that she doesn't need that much sugar."

"Hermione, a little fun won't kill the girl. She's entirely too much like you and, without many friends, the two of us need to have fun together." Mrs. Granger was finished with the dough and was now laying it into a pie tin.

"If she's like I was, why did we never have any tea parties?" Hermione asked, half-joking, half-irritated. She couldn't help but feel that Heloise was the favorite. She set a cup of tea by Mrs. Granger and carried her own over to the table.

"For one thing, there was never any time when you were growing up," Mrs. Granger was stirring blueberries and sugar into the filling for the pie. "For another, you had it better than she did. Not only did you have two parents, they actually raised you." Hermione flinched at the admonishment. "And maybe I'm softening up in my old age," Mrs. Granger continued dreamily, not caring about her daughter's feelings.

"Well, speaking of parents," Hermione ground out, sipping her tea. "Draco wants to meet Heloise. I was going to have him come over this afternoon. Will that be all right?"

"Certainly, both of you can come to our tea party," Mrs. Granger poured in the filling and smoothly slid the pie tin into the oven. "The party is starting at two sharp, so you should both be here by then." Hermione, recognizing the dismissal, drained her tea and stood to go. "One last thing," Hermione turned at her mother's words. "Don't screw this up. The girl has a right to her father."

Hermione nodded and left.

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Draco was still pacing around his library, waiting for some word from Hermione. When his owl had returned with no response it had been disappointing, to say the least. So Draco stayed in one spot and kept his eyes open for owls.

Around noon there came a tap at the window. As soon as Draco had opened the window in flew a tawny owl. It dropped it's note and flew away, flapping wings making Draco's hair flutter. Draco quickly unrolled the small scroll and read.

Draco,

If you want to meet Heloise today, we're having a tea party at my parents house. It starts at two so, meet me at my flat at one thirty.

Hermione

Draco threw away the note and almost laughed. A tea party, was it? What exactly did a full grown wizard wear to a four-year-olds tea party? Draco had absolutely no clue. He had never been to anything remotely resembling a tea party in his life, except the occasional afternoon tea. But that was completely different.

"Better go check my closet," Draco sighed, smiling for the first time that day.

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Hermione sat on her couch, eyes on the clock and fingers twisting anxiously. It was almost one thirty and no Draco. She scolded herself for her foolishness; he wasn't even late yet. But she couldn't help but feel nervous all the same. She could understand if Draco stood her up, but she couldn't imagine him doing it to Heloise. He had, after all, asked to meet the girl.

Hermione hadn't been sure of what to wear to a tea party. She had had few friends as a girl and little patience for dolls, so she had never had much interest in tea parties. She had decided to wear a knee-length floral pink and white skirt with a white blouse. That seemed like it might work.

A knock came at the door at exactly one thirty. Hermione rushed to open the door, revealing Draco wearing slacks and a plain, button-down shirt.

"Ready?" He asked shortly. Hermione could only nod.

The set off walking at a brisk rate, Draco only slowing enough for Hermione to keep up because he had no idea where they were going. It didn't take them long to get to the Granger's house; it was only one fifty when Hermione opened the front door.

"Oh, you're early," Mrs. Granger noted. "Good, make yourselves at home." She was dressed similarly to Hermione, semi-casually. "You must be Draco. I'm Mrs. Granger, Hermione's mother." She shook his hand.

"A pleasure, Mrs. Granger," Draco smirked politely. "You have a lovely home."

"It's fine," she looked him up and down. "You look like you do well. What do you do?"

"Pardon?"

"Er, Mum, Draco doesn't have a job," Hermione interrupted. "His family has money."

"Hmm, interesting," Mrs. Granger didn't look very interested. Or very impressed. "Heloise is in her room. She should be down in a few minutes."

They sat in silence for only a moment before Heloise skipped down the stairs, a rag doll dragged by the leg trailing after her. She wore a pink dress with ribbons and lace and all kinds of frills that Hermione, as a child, would have found repugnant. From the look on Heloise's face she agreed.

"Grandma, I don't wanna wear this dress. Why can't I wear my jeans?" Heloise pouted cutely.

"Heloise, remember your manners. We have company," Mrs. Granger jerked her head in Draco's direction.

"Nice to meet you," Heloise extended a hand haughtily in Draco's direction, looking him up and down and taking in his fair coloring with little surprise. "Are you my father?"

Hermione interjected before Draco could speak, "Yes, Heloise, this is Draco. He's your father."

Draco looked slightly stunned. "Well, Heloise, you're pretty sharp," he recovered quickly.

"I guess. I mean, we do look alike," Heloise spoke slowly, stating the obvious for this clearly dim adult. "Grandma, can we have our party now?"

"Of course, come along to the table," Mrs. Granger gathered the rag doll in her arms and led Heloise along. Hermione and Draco trailed behind them.

"She's smart. And she doesn't seem particularly surprised," Draco muttered to Hermione.

"Well, we were Head boy and girl, not to mention the two stop students in our entire year. Good breeding I guess," Hermione shrugged casually. "And not much surprises young children. They're very accepting."

"I don't think I ever was," Draco shook his head doubtfully. "It seems to me I've always been too skeptical."

They all took their seats around the dining room table where tea and pie had been set out. "Where's Dad?" Hermione asked as Mrs. Granger poured her tea. "Wasn't too keen on coming to a tea party, huh?"

"No, Hermione, he was not," Mrs. Granger replied primly. "Your father went to the pub to escape this "girly madness," as he put it."

"Smart man," Draco whispered so that only Heloise could hear. She giggled appreciatively.

The blueberry pie was cut and served, everyone receiving equally tiny slices. It tasted alright, but it had clearly been made with artificial sweetener, taking away some of the fun. Hermione nibbled her slice nervously, Mrs. Granger picked at hers, Draco ate his in two bites (grimacing at the fake sugar taste) and Heloise happily ate hers in tiny bites, talking to Draco and ignoring her mother and grandmother completely. The rag doll had no appetite.

"So, Mother," Hermione sipped her unsweetened tea. "How've you been?" Mrs. Granger raised an eyebrow. "Well, it is a tea party. I thought we should make small talk," Hermione shrugged.

"Bien," Mrs. Granger replied shortly, sipping her own tea daintily.

Draco was telling Heloise a story. "So, your mother's two front teeth were just getting longer and longer, and Professor Snape wasn't saying anything, so she just ran off to the hospital wing."

Heloise giggled, displaying her own perfect teeth. "Is that true, Mama? Did your teeth really reach down to your neck?"

"They reached my belly button before I got them fixed," Hermione answered wryly, shooting Draco a dark look. "And it wasn't all that funny at the time."

Draco laughed. "Don't be that way, Hermione. It was pretty funny."

"Maybe to you," Hermione frowned, then immediately perked up. "Would you like to hear a story about Draco, Heloise?" The little girl nodded. "Once he was trying to cast a spell on my friend, Harry when his back was turned. One of the professors saw and turned Draco into a white ferret. Then he bounced him up and down all over the corridor for a few minutes. We all called him the incredible bouncing ferret after that." Heloise cackled in glee as Draco scowled.

"All right, that really wasn't funny," he complained. "It hurt to be bounced around that way. My tiny ferret brain was completely rattled." Heloise laughed even louder. Even Mrs. Granger cracked a stern smile.

Eventually the tea party drew to a close and it was time for Draco and Hermione to leave.

"Good night, Mother," Hermione kissed Mrs. Granger's cheek. "Bye Heloise!" She hugged the tiny girl tightly. "Be good, okay?"

"Yes, Mama. Bye Draco," Heloise graced Draco with a hug before scampering back into the house, leaving him no time to bid her a farewell of his own.

"It was very nice to meet you, Mrs. Granger," Draco shook her hand formally.

"Quite. Good-night, children." Mrs. Granger retreated into her home, closing the door behind them.

"Your mother is... intimidating," Draco admitted ruefully as they walked down the street.

"I've always thought so," Hermione smiled. Turning, she caught his arm. "Thank you for coming Draco. Heloise loved you. She usually doesn't take to people that quickly."

"Her mother's daughter, huh?" Draco smirked, but not unkindly. "I'm glad I came. She's a good girl." They walked on in silence for a little longer. "Why does she live there? Why not with you?"

Hermione squirmed slightly. "A few reasons. Remember, I was only nineteen when she was born. I couldn't take care of a baby. And besides, you don't move up the ministry this quickly if they know that you're an unwed mother." She looked down.

"And she looks like me," Draco finished. "Anyone looking at her could guess your little secret," he frowned and continued walking, not looking at Hermione.

"Draco, the timings just been... shit," Hermione stated awkwardly. "It's not like I never wanted her, and not like I never wanted her with you... it was just a bad time."

"You're too anal," Draco still looked straight ahead. "Things don't always happen at the right time. You just have to adjust."

"I've never been called flexible," Hermione shrugged.

After a few more moments in silence Draco spoke. "It was strange seeing her," he said carefully. "Like waking up to in what I had thought was only a dream." He thought for a moment. "It's not like I never thought about having kids. And not like I never thought about having them with you," he nodded in her direction. "But whenever I thought about it there was always more time... pregnancy, birth, having a baby, a toddler... teaching our kid how to talk, how to walk, how to brush her teeth... I just always thought there would be more time. Now I've missed everything."

"She's still only four," Hermione whispered. "There's plenty of time."

"You robbed me," Draco didn't let her go further. "You stole our daughter's childhood from me. That's unforgivable."

"I know," Hermione looked down. "I can't justify my actions. Just believe that I was young and stupid and afraid."

"You've never been stupid," Draco smiled sadly. "You're much smarter than I am."

"Everyone's stupid sometimes," Hermione answered quietly. "You can't learn these kind of things from a book."

"Ain't that the damn truth," Draco smirked, still sad.

"So, you'll be seeing her again?" Hermione asked after a full five minutes of silence.

"Of course, what do you think?" Draco asked, harsher than he'd intended.

"Of course," Hermione sighed. They had reached her building. "Good-night, Draco."

"'Night," he replied shortly, apparating away.

Hermione entered her flat and collapsed into bed. It was only five, but she had never felt so exhausted in her life.

TBC...

So, I don't know how regularly I'll be posting. I'm at Brown University for the next few weeks for a summer program, and then I'll be on an island with no internet, so who knows when I'll find a connection. But I'll try, by god, I will try!


	6. Red and Gold

1Chapter 6: Red and Gold

Draco and Hermione set up a system where Draco could visit with Hermione and Heloise twice a week. This worked fairly well, giving Draco time to bond with his daughter and Heloise a regular chance to see her parents. Before this Hermione hadn't even visited very consistently, although she tried to visit as frequently as possible. Almost two months after they had set up this schedule Draco asked Hermione to go to dinner with him, without Heloise.

Draco had been fairly distant towards Hermione up until this point, speaking mostly to Heloise during visits and only contacting Hermione to set up visits. But he had been slowly softening to her, although Hermione had had no clue it was happening. Draco chose to let Hermione think that he hated her in part to punish her and in part to give himself time to think things over. Eventually he came to a decision and invited her to dinner.

Hermione hadn't been this stressed out about a meal as far as she could remember. On the day of the dinner, after going through everything in her closet she decided that she needed a new dress. This brought her to GemKay and Jule.

Jule had decided to stay in London for a while, renting a fashionable flat not too far from Diagon Alley where her shop was. She and Hermione had kept in contact, meeting for the occasional lunch, so she wasn't too surprised when Hermione called her.

"What's up, Hermione?" Jule asked, absentmindedly sketching a new design at her desk as they spoke. Her brow was wrinkled in concentration and she kept the phone held between her shoulder and her ear, leaving her hands free to draw.

"I need a dress," Hermione began without preamble. "Something that'll make Draco's jaw drop when he sees me.

"Okay," Jule kept drawing, biting her lip absently. "Might I ask why?"

"We're having dinner. I need to convince him I'm not a complete wretch." Hermione paced across her living room, absently fiddling with the phone cord. The phone dock hovered behind her, spelled to follow her around.

"I thought you two got back together at the reunion," Jule was now frowning in confusion as well as concentration.

"I made him very angry, but I think he might be relenting because he invited me to dinner," Hermione frowned too, unsure of how much to tell Jule.

"What'd you do? It must've been pretty bad."

Hermione, decided, took a deep breath. "He found out that I had his baby after graduation and never told him. Never told anyone." All that Hermione heard was a crash as Jule dropped her phone. Scrambling to grab the phone, Jule then knocked over her drawing desk.

"Hello? Hermione?" Jule eventually panted into the receiver. "You did WHAT?"

"Well, a couple of months after we graduated, I found out that I was pregnant," Hermione began. "I knew it was Draco's because we slept together for the last time after the dance. But I didn't know how to tell him, and I didn't much feel like speaking to him. So I just never told him."

"Yeah, but you're a fairly public person," Jule was straightening her desk and gathering scattered papers and pens. "Why don't the papers mention little, um..."

"Heloise."

"Yeah, Heloise," Jule nodded. "Wouldn't people know that you had a kid?"

"The ministry isn't too big on unmarried mothers, Jule. I cast a spell to hide my pregnancy and never told anyone. Harry and Ron don't know because Heloise looks too much like Draco. She lives with my parents." Hermione was still pacing.

"Damn."

Hermione froze for a moment, speechless. But only for a moment. "That's all you have to say? Damn? No fucks, shits, holy craps?"

"Nope."

"Well then. So, can you help me with a dress?"

"Sure. Anything for a struggling single mother." Jule could practically hear Hermione rolling her eyes over the phone. "Meet me at GemKay in an hour, 'kay?"

"Yeah."

They both hung up.

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Hermione paced back and forth through GemKay, glancing a bit at the dresses on the racks and looking longingly at the fabulous shoes lining the shoe wall. It was now one hour and fifteen minutes since she had gotten off the phone with Jule, but it didn't particularly surprise her that Jule was running late. Hermione was just picking up an attractive green dress when a tap on her shoulder startled her. Dropping the dress and spinning around, Hermione saw Jule.

Jule's hair was cut short, in something like a pixie cut, and colored candy-apple red. She was dressed simply and plainly in a long black skirt and a black sweater.

"You're late," Hermione stated.

"No one's ever on time in Manhattan, it's terribly unfashionable," Jule pulled a mocking face. "I got caught up in a design I've been working on. So, when do I meet her?"

"Who?"

"The little one, silly! I've already started thinking about a whole new children's line I'm going to design just for little... what was her name again?"

"Heloise."

"Yes, little Heloise Granger. Or is it Malfoy?" Jule winked at Hermione suggestively. "I always thought the two of you should breed. The child must be beautiful. Malfoy's far too pretty for his own good, or yours for that matter."

"Aren't you cheerful," Hermione frowned slightly. Then she grinned. "And I know for a fact that you never wanted me and Draco to "breed.""

Jule flushed. The two had grown fairly casual about Jule's former feelings for Hermione, and Hermione had even grown comfortable enough to joke about it. "Well, that's true. I wanted Draco to die and you to marry me. Then we would adopt a little Guatemalan baby together and live happily ever after. But that's beside the point. We're here to get you a dress!"

Hermione picked up the green dress she had dropped. "I was looking at this one. It's nice."

Jule shook her head immediately. "No, it's not. Not for you anyway; green is definitely not your color. I'm thinking something red and gold, just to remind Draco where you come from."

"Wouldn't that be slightly passive agressive?"

"Maybe."

"Okay then, as long as we have that confirmed."

Jule drew Hermione away from the rack she had been looking at and led her over to a door marked: "Employees only." A few shoppers looked curiously as the two slightly unfashionable witches wandered into the private area: all GemKay employees wore clothing from the store and always looked trendy and put together.

"I've been working on a special "back to school" line of Hogwarts based dresses," Jule explained, leading Hermione down a dark hallway. "Since most British witches and wizards go there anyway. Everything in House colors. Totally fabulous, if I say so myself."

"They go for that in America, do they?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Not at all. Only available here in Diagon Alley."

They passed several doors and came to the end of the hallway and another door marked: "Private. KEEP OUT!"

"Even my employees, except for the manager, aren't allowed in here," Jule told Hermione. "It's where I keep new designs that haven't gone on the market yet. Top secret."

Through the door was a large work- and storage-room. Several dozen racks lined the walls, all displaying never-before seen GemKay merchandise. One corner of the room had only one rack, hung with half-finished clothing and one manakin which was wearing a half-made gown of completely silver silk.

"That one's beautiful," Hermione pointed towards the manakin.

"Yeah, it's a prototype of a wedding dress I'm working on," said Jule. "It still needs some work."

"Jule, are you getting married?" Hermione demanded, rather surprised.

"Darling, we both know I don't swing that way anymore," Jule smiled at her tolerantly. "It's not for me. I don't even have a girlfriend."

"Then who's it for?"

"Never mind," Jule brushed her off. "Look, here's the dress I want you to wear. It's the Gryffindor house gown. Just for you."

Jule was standing in front of several racks of dresses that were all red and gold. Next to this set of racks was another group all green and silver, then blue and bronze and then yellow and black. All the different houses, all mass produced into fabulous gowns. Jule pulled one from the Gryffindor rack and held it out to Hermione.

The dress was slinkily seductive. Reaching to just above the knees, it had a low-cut square neckline with long sleeves that would dangle elegantly from the elbow where they ended. Mostly red, or scarlet more accurately because it was so bright, the dress was trimmed in gold embroidery. The back even had a golden lion embroidered on. The material was silk, so fine and well made that it seemed to glimmer even without the golden detail-work.

"It's beautiful, Jule. How much do you plan on charging people?"

"A hideous amount. That's the best silk money can buy, and real gold thread. You don't want to know how many Galleons this thing is worth," Jule shook the dress tantalizingly. It caught the light and glittered even more. "Take it."

"Jule, I doubt I can afford that," Hermione protested. "I can't spend that much money on one gown."

Jule rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna charge you for it, stupid. It's a gift. Take it."

"Jule, you can't just give people expensive gifts like that. That's completely unfair." But Hermione was sorely tempted and she could feel her hand reaching out to take the gown, against her will.

Jule was getting exasperated now. "Hermione, if you don't take this goddamn dress right now, I swear that I will hex you ten ways from Friday. I have more money than I can ever spend in a lifetime, unless I develop a pricey drug habit, and I want you to have this fucking dress. Consider it a gift for your daughter if you want; the reunion of her parents."

Hermione took the dress. "You know Jule, if I was a lesbian... well, you're going to make some lucky woman very happy."

Jule rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Mom." Then she grinned. "Hey, that reminds me! You have to bring Heloise in for a fitting. I'm going to make her a whole new wardrobe."

"Jule, I don't think my four-year-old should be wearing designer clothing." Hermione told her gently. Jule merely gave her a blank stare.

"So?" There was a moment of silence in which their wills clashed slightly.

"Never mind," Hermione relented with a sigh.

"Now, on to the accessories!" Jule cried, happy she had gotten her own way.

They reemerged into the main part of the store, Hermione carrying the beautiful dress in a box (which also held a matching hand-bag) under one arm. Jule briskly led Hermione over to the cashier, where there was also a glass case containing all of the stores jewelry. Jule nodded to the cashier, pulled a key from her pocket, and opened the case.

"Jule, hang on," Hermione protested. "I can't take the dress and jewelry! That's way too much!"

"Of course it is," Jule agreed. "The dress and the shoes we'll find in a minute are yours to keep. The jewelry is a loan." That made Hermione feel slightly better. "Now," Jule muttered to herself, thinking aloud. "Silver would look better on you, but it has to be gold to match the dress... but if it's too gaudy it'll look ridiculous." She absentmindedly ran one finger over the jewelry. "Perfect!" She exclaimed at length, drawing out a necklace and matching earrings. "Here, put these on."

The necklace was a long, thin gold chain with a single, tear-drop shaped ruby dangling at the end. It was simple and elegant and hung well from Hermione's slender neck, falling a couple of inches above the neckline of the dress where it would be displayed the best. The earrings were matching tear-drop rubies that dangled from small, rose shaped golden clasps. They were also simple and elegant, perfect for Hermione.

"Jule, they're wonderful!" Hermione gasped. "Thank you, this is perfect!"

"Good," Jule, satisfied with herself, locked the jewelry case and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Now, shoes!"

She pulled her over to the shoe wall, past the heavy combat boots and over to the more adult high-heels. She scanned the wall for only a moment before grabbing a pair of golden strappy high-heeled sandals. The top strap, which would encircle the ankle, was studded with garnets, as bright and red as real rubies. She all but threw them at Hermione and told her to try them on.

"You expect me to keep these?" Hermione asked quizzically as she inspected her gold-shod feet. "When will I ever wear them again?"

"Well, you have to keep them. I can't sell shoes that have been worn, even if it's only once," Jule found her a shoe-box to put the sandals in. "Your feet dirty them up a bit, no matter how clean you may be, and there's damage to the heel. They're yours for life now, sell them second-hand if you want, throw them away, I don't care."

Hermione spontaneously threw her arms around Jule, hugging her tightly. She felt the hint of tears in her eyes, and her voice shook slightly. "You're being so kind and generous. Why? Up until recently we haven't seen each other in five years, and I definitely wasn't this great a friend when we were in school. Why are you doing all this?"

Jule looked at her seriously, one of the few times she had ever worn such a solemn expression while speaking to Hermione. "Because of everything that happened seventh year. You were always good and loyal, even when I started acting all crazy. You tried to save me, even when I pushed you away. After I left school I think that if it hadn't been for the memory of all your kindness I never would have gotten over all my shit and started this damn company. So think of it as my repaying a debt. Never let it be said that Jule McKay let's kindness go un-paid for."

Hermione smiled through the happy tears in her eyes and kissed Jule on the cheek. "Thank you."

At that point Hermione had to go back home and get ready for Draco; he was supposed to pick her up at her flat in a little under two hours. So Hermione said her goodbyes, gathered up her new outfit, and apparated home.

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Draco arrived promptly at seven to pick Hermione up. He apparated just outside her door, cleared his throat, ran a shaking hand through his hair, and rang the bell.

"Just a minute," Hermione's voice emerged, muffled from behind the door. A moment later the door was pulled open from the inside and Hermione emerged. If Draco were open enough with his emotions his jaw would have literally fallen open in shock.

Hermione stood in the doorway, a vision of red and gold splendor. Her hair was gathered up into an elegant knot at the back of her neck, honey-brown curls escaping to frame her face and caress the creamy skin of her neck. Sparkling red drops hung from her ears, matching another that dangled just above her ample cleavage. Her dress clung to her body, accentuating her generous curves and slender waist, and hung around her knees, displaying her strong, shapely legs. When she turned to lock her door he smirked at the lion on her back.

"Hermione, you look..." Draco trailed off, completely at a loss for words.

"Thanks," she smiled genuinely. "You don't look so bad yourself." Draco was wearing a fairly casual suit, black of course, with a grey shirt and green tie. His cufflinks were antique silver with emeralds set in the center. "It's quite a spectacle we make," Hermione continued, smiling even broader. "The Gryffindor and the Slytherin." Draco smiled back. "So, where we headed?"

"A fancy little French restaurant," Draco smirked. "I thought you might be in the mood for a little taste of Paris." With that he grabbed her about the waist, held her close, and disapparated. When Hermione could see where they were she gasped in delight. They stood under the Eiffel Tower.

"Draco, how wonderful," she exclaimed, giving him a smile that stopped his heart. "But you shouldn't have done that; there're muggles all about." However the many muggles surrounding them didn't seem to have noticed their sudden arrival.

"Don't worry, they can't see us," Draco explained, grabbing her hand and leading her away. "We're under a spell of concealment."

They walked a bit, watching the sun set over the Parisian city-scape. The lights on the eiffel tower were turned on and began to blink barbarically. Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Those lights are a scar on the face of Paris," she muttered. "Mother had a fit when her sister told her about them."

"You French people and your pride," Draco laughed. "Didn't the Parisians hate the Eiffel Tower when they built it?"

"Le Tour Eiffel," Hermione smirked. "Oui. C'est un monstruosité. Parisians hate anything new." (A/N: forgive me if the French is flawed. I gave my French/English dictionary away about a year ago.)

Draco led Hermione to a small, secluded restaurant a fair distance from the tower. They dined on French wine, escargot, and large salads laden with goat cheese (A/N: sorry to interrupt again, just felt like telling you guys that when I was in Paris a.k.a. heaven everything had goat cheese on it. Soooo good.) For desert Hermione ordered chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries and Draco ordered crème brouille. Eventually they were full.

"You know, I've never eaten snails before," Draco commented conversationally as they walked through Paris again. "They're surprisingly good. And not as slimy as one would expect."

"Like snakes, eh?" Hermione smirked, clasping Draco's hand in her own. They were back at the Eiffel Tower. "Thank you for tonight, Draco," she gazed into his silver eyes. "It was... wonderful."

Draco gazed back, falling into deep brown pits, lost in Hermione's eyes, the eyes that had so entranced him almost six years before. "Hermione..." He trailed off. And there, under the moon in Paris, Draco kissed Hermione. She knew that she had been forgiven, that all wrongs had been absolved, and that life would finally move forward from where it had stopped, frozen five years before. Their hearts were now whole once more, and for the first time in Hermione's life she felt completely at peace with herself. "Just promise me one thing," Draco whispered, gathering her close to apparate back to London. "No more secrets, okay?" Hermione could only nod and kiss him again as Paris dissolved from around them.

TBC...

A/N: No worries, it isn't over yet. More story still to be told! Woohoo!


	7. Dinner Party

Okay, so this is possibly the strangest and most ridiculous chapter I've ever written. The concept alone is very peculiar. But please bare with me. Major fluff warning.

Chapter 7: Dinner Party

Everyday Hermione now awoke in Draco's arms, the only place she ever wanted to be again. Every morning was a joy and every night a gift, spent with the only man she had ever, and ever would, love. A week after their trip to Paris and Draco all but lived in Hermione's flat. They were together almost constantly, except when Hermione was at work; a necessary separation. And, of course, Harry and Ron still had no idea about the existence of Draco.

"You know," Draco murmured sleepily into Hermione's ear as they stretched on Sunday morning. "You should probably tell your friends about me. No more secrets, remember? Not to mention Heloise."

"Well, you should tell your mother about me," Hermione teased.

"The difference is you actually like your friends." Draco yawned. "I hate Mother, and lately I get the feeling that she barely tolerates me."

Hermione smiled, kissed his cheek, and got out of bed. But she knew he wasn't joking: with things going as well as they were it was definitely time to tell the boys the truth.

"The problem, love," she called as she moved into the bathroom. "Is how to tell them. It's not easy to come out with the truth after so long, as you would do well to remember."

"As if I don't," Draco called back.

Hermione stepped into the shower and made the water as hot as she could bear. Nothing like a nice long soak in the morning..."Mind if I join you?" Draco stepped into the shower next to her. Well, almost nothing...

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When Hermione and Draco had finished with their shower, they lazily got dressed in Hermione's room. By that time, because he spent so much time at the flat, Draco had already left several changes of clothing in Hermione's closet.

"What do you want to do today?" Hermione asked as Draco tied his shoelaces.

"Would you be interested in a stroll in the park with Heloise and I?"

"That sounds lovely," Hermione smiled. A little while ago the idea of spending "family time" with Draco and Heloise had been unthinkable. It finally seemed as though her life was coming together.

They picked Heloise up from the Granger house a little while later and went to a small park nearby. There was a playground within it that Heloise attended frequently, so she immediately ran off to join her friends. Her parents sat on a park bench, watching the playing children in the distance.

"So, how to tell Ron and Harry?" Hermione wondered aloud, screwing her brow in mock concentration.

"Why don't you invite them over for dinner?" Draco suggested, waving to Heloise on the slide. "Say you want to act grown up and have a dinner party or something. When they arrive I'll be there and we'll explain everything."

"But what about Heloise?" Hermione smiled at another park-mother she knew by sight. "Should she be there too?"

"Well, Potter and Weasley will probably swear a bit, so I'm thinking not," Draco smirked. "First we'll tell them about us, then we'll tell them about Heloise."

"Best to explain everything all at once, I think," Hermione suggested. "Break it to them in once blow, you know?"

"Sure."

"So," Hermione mused. "A dinner party. One problem: I can't cook."

"Really, something the incredible know-it-all can't do?" Draco gasped. "Granger, I'm shocked."

Hermione mock sighed. "Yes, it's quite tragic. It turns out you can't learn to cook from a book."

"Not even a cook book?"

Hermione shook her head. "I thought it would be simple: after all, you just follow the instructions in the book. But no luck, everything I touch melts, explodes, or catches fire."

"But you were so good at Potions!" Draco exclaimed. Hermione merely shrugged.

"I guess we could hire a caterer, or order in or something," she mused.

Draco shook his head. "I'll cook." Hermione turned to him, blinking stupidly. "What? I'm a good cook!" Draco protested.

"Draco Malfoy, you can cook?" Hermione demanded. He nodded. "That is so hot!" She pressed a kiss to his lips. They both came away smirking.

"Ew!" Came the sound of young voices. Heloise and all her friends were looking in their direction and making sick faces. Hermione and Draco started to laugh.

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"So, Draco and I are having a dinner party this Friday to tell the boys everything. It would help if you came." Hermione twirled the phone cord around her finger absently.

"Of course, darling, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Jule was sketching at her desk again. She seemed to spend most of her time there of late. "The looks on their faces! Is Draco going to pop out of a cake or something?"

"Now there's an idea," Hermione giggled. "But he would have to bake himself into the cake first; I'm letting him do all the cooking."

"I didn't know purebloods could cook," Jule erased something in irritation. "Stupid sleeves... Are you sure a crew of house elves isn't going to show up the day of the party?"

"Jule, Draco knows how I feel about elves," Hermione answered sternly. "His exact words were 'I'm going to make rack of lamb.' Not 'I'm going to order my slaves to make rack of lamb.'"

"They aren't slaves if they enjoy it," Jule was carefully redrawing her sleeves.

"They only think they like it because they're uneducated!" Hermione all but yelled into the phone. "If we were to teach them that there was another way, other things for them to do, and that they could be PAID, for goodness sake, then–" The sound of a click silenced Hermione. She stared at the phone in astonishment for a moment. "That bitch hung up on me!" Hermione cried, slamming the phone back down on the cradle.

"Hermione, love of my life, what do you expect when you start ranting about elves? No one wants to hear that crap of yours." Draco was reading on Hermione's couch. Hermione gave his head a less than gentle smack. "Love you too," Draco called as Hermione stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door.

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Harry and Ron, not to mention Ariel and Ginny, seemed quite taken with the idea of a dinner party. They were all still young enough to find the idea somewhat alien, but they were getting older and starting to settle down, so the idea of acting "grown up" seemed slightly attractive. None of them expected Hermione to have any ulterior motives.

That Friday Jule arrived a bit earlier than everyone else to see how Hermione was doing. Hermione was, to put it simply, a nervous wreck.

"I don't know what I'm going to say to them," she paced back and forth in her hallway, nervously smoothing her dress repeatedly. That evening she was wearing a simple black dress that she had bought from GemKay earlier that week.

"Just relax, give them wine, and answer their questions," Jule soothed, leading Hermione to a chair and pouring her a glass of red wine.

"You worry too much," Draco called from the kitchen. "Things will unfold the way they will and worrying never helped anything."

"Your piece of eye-candy has a point," Jule nodded. Draco rolled his eyes. At that moment he was mixing the salad dressing and chopping fresh greens for the salad.

Unlike most witches and wizards Draco cooked all by hand, using his wand for absolutely nothing. When Hermione had asked him why earlier he had haughtily explained that "cooking is an art form. Using magic is just cheating." before banishing her from her own kitchen.

"If nothing else the table looks nice," Jule offered, pointing towards the impeccably set table.

"She used a ruler," Draco called from the kitchen once more.

Jule turned to Hermione with interest. "Did you really?"

Hermione blushed. "Things look better if they're symmetrical!"

"I guess compulsive people really do get worse with time," Jule shook her head sadly. "Poor Hermione, so young, so crazy."

Draco threw the salad into a large wooden bowl, poured his dressing over everything, and set it on the table. Hermione rushed over to make certain that the bowl was in the exact center of the table. When Jule raised an eyebrow at her she blushed even darker and muttered, "Everyone can reach it better if it's in the middle," before returning to her wine.

The three Weasleys and Harry Potter all arrived together at exactly eight o'clock. Hermione jumped with a start as they rang the doorbell, knocking her wine onto the floor. Jule quickly spelled it clean before turning to Hermione, grabbing her shoulders, and looking straight into her eyes."Hermione Granger, you are a strong, brave, intelligent, and beautiful witch. You've dealt with much worse than this. You are going to open the door, smile at your friends, and be the confident little bitch we all know you can be."

Hermione squared her shoulders, nodded resolutely, and turned to the door.

As soon as Hermione opened the door her excited guests poured in, Harry at the front and Ron at the back. There were exclamations of delight and greeting, and Hermione had to take a moment to rub Ariel's stomach which was barely starting to grow. Ron practically walked through the door holding forward a photograph of the baby's first sonogram. But all conversation cut off abruptly as the group walked into the main room and saw Jule and Draco standing by the table, talking over glasses of wine.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry demanded, pointing accusingly at the former Slytherin prince.

"I was invited," Jule joked.

"He didn't mean you, he meant the ferret," Ron joined Harry, hand halfway to the wand in his pocket.

Hermione pushed the boys aside and moved to stand next to Draco, hooking her arm through his and taking a deep breath. "Boys, I think it's time you found out that Draco and I are together."

It was as if an explosion had gone off in the room. There was a moment of complete silence, like the stillness before a battle, and then the crazed shouting of disbelieving curses and exclamations of surprise. Eventually everyone regained their senses enough to make sense.

"When the fuck did this happen?" Harry demanded, taking the glass that Jule had been trying to thrust into his fisted hand. "You two hadn't seen each other in five years, but at the reunion you suddenly decided to have a go at it?"

"Actually, we were together for most of seventh year," Draco drawled from where he now lounged on the back of the sofa. "We broke up before graduation and got back together, kind of, at the reunion."

Another moment of shocked silence.

"Look, it's a long and involved story that I don't much feel like going into, but we _were_ together and now we're back together and you two are just going to have to deal with it," Hermione exclaimed in exasperation. Ginny seemed disturbed but accepting and Ariel didn't completely understand the conflict.

After a while Harry spoke. "Well, we weren't completely clueless. After all, you two weren't exactly discreet at the reunion with all the hand holding and such. So have you two been together since that night?"

"No, we got back together about two weeks ago," Hermione replied. "I made Draco very angry the night of the reunion." Questioning stares greeted this statement.

"Do you want to tell them the second part, or should I?" Draco asked Hermione pointedly.

"There's more?" Ron demanded, his face now redder than his hair. He drained the glass Jule had given him.

"We have a daughter. Her name is Heloise," Hermione stated cautiously. "She's four and a half years old and her birthday is December tenth. I got pregnant right around graduation. She likes dogs and the color blue."

Harry looked almost sick. "This is quite a lot of information to absorb," he stated at length. "I think I need to sit down." Hermione ushered him to a chair at the table. Staring at the perfectly set table Harry smiled slightly. "Have you been using the ruler again, Hermione?" He asked quietly.

Hermione laughed nervously. "Look, is anyone hungry, because I'm starved." Hermione asked suddenly. "I haven't eaten all day." There was a general murmur of assent.

"Draco, will the lamb keep?" Hermione asked as everyone took a seat.

"It's resting in the oven. And I've cast a spell so it'll stay warm, just in case," Draco uncorked a new bottle of wine and fetched grape juice for Ariel.

"I thought magic had no place in cooking," Hermione joked.

"HE cooked?" Ron demanded.

"Don't look so surprised, Weasley," Draco took his own seat. "We all have our talents."

They passed the salad bowl around in silence, each taking a small portion. Hermione took a bite of the crisp lettuce and almost dropped her fork in shock. The dressing tasted of lemon and garlic and was by far the best she had ever tasted.

"Draco, this is delicious!" She exclaimed.

Draco merely smirked. "Told you I was a great cook."

The boys wouldn't admit that they liked Draco's food, but when the bowl was passed around for seconds they both took generous portions. Draco smirked again. "Don't fill up on salad, there's still the main course." Draco stood and removed the lamb from the oven. The smell quickly filled the room, making everyone's mouths water. Draco carefully cut the rack of lamb and served everyone a piece. He had made enough for everyone to have a second helping if they chose. They all did. With the lamb Draco served roasted carrots and sweet potatoes, a sweet side-dish. The meal was mostly eaten in silence, tension still present in the air, but it was a contented silence for the most part.

"Y'know, Malfoy," Ron stretched back in his chair, completely full. "You could open a restaurant with this food. It's really not bad."

"Thanks, Weasley," Draco smirked ironically. "Anyone hungry for desert?" They all groaned, hands clutching filled stomachs. "Maybe a little later then. Coffee? Brandy? Tea?"

"Since when do you keep brandy about, Hermione?" Harry asked as he accepted a small glass from Draco.

"Draco brought it over," Hermione smiled contentedly, happy to see Draco and her friends tolerating one another.

"What, is he moving in now?" Ron tried to joke, tactless as ever.

Draco and Hermione shared a glance. "Well, we hadn't really discussed that, but... Draco would you like to move in?"

Draco shrugged. "Home's where you put your crap. I don't care about living arrangement, as long as you're around." Ginny and Ariel practically cooed at the sweetness of this statement. "But it would be nice to move away from Mother."

Hermione conjured coffee for herself and Ginny and tea for Ariel as Draco, Jule, Harry and Ron sipped their brandy.

"It would be better if you had brewed it properly," Draco remarked mockingly.

"No, if I had brewed it, it would have been much, much worse," Hermione disagreed.

"Anyone ready for dessert?" Draco asked. They all were.

For desert Draco dished out a fruit tart that he himself had baked earlier that day. It was light and sweet and delicious, perfect after the filling meal they had all eaten.

"I guess you were right," Jule remarked offhand to Hermione. "He never would have fit in that small of a cake." Hermione snorted with laughter.

Eventually the somewhat awkward and unusual evening came to an end. Everyone left, including Jule, and Hermione and Draco collapsed onto her couch.

"God, that was exhausting," Draco complained, rubbing Hermione's feet for her.

"I was serious before, you know," Hermione told him. "Would you like to move in?"

"What I would like, Hermione, is for us, and by us I mean you, me, and Heloise, to all get a bigger flat. She should be living with us."

Hermione felt tears fill her eyes. "We're becoming a family."

"That's what happens when people grow up," Draco shrugged. "Come on you big cry baby, let's go to bed. I'll clean up in the morning."

TBC...

A/N: Okay, so basically all the conflict is out of the way. Those of you who have complained of my love of drama can breathe easy: pretty much everything after this will be light and fluffy. Also, I plan to upload another chapter this Friday because I'm leaving Saturday for my internet-free island. Somebody guessed it was Hawaii or something wonderfully exotic like that, but it's really just a small island off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire called Star Island. Mostly used for Unitarian Universalist recreational and spiritual retreats. I go every summer with my Mom but this is my last year because I am now officially a high school senior and I am sniff growing up and getting too old.

On a completely unrelated note, if any readers would like to get to know my personal beliefs a little better I recommend that you research Unitarian Universalism a bit: it might explain some of my madness.


	8. Moving In

Hey, this is kind of a shot in the dark, but would anyone be interested in a story about Jule's life once she leaves Hogwarts? I was reading through "The New Chick" at three in the morning the other night, and it occurred to me that I myself, as a reader of my own work (split personality!), am a little curious about Jule's journeys. So, if anyone would want to read something like that, let me know. I refuse to let I occupy any of "Reunion" because, as I've said, in that story Jule is a secondary character/plot mover, so I don't want to make her the focus. But considering her personality, and what she had to overcome, I think it might be an interesting idea. Let me know!

Chapter 8: Moving In

Hermione and Draco's house-hunting began shortly after the dinner party, leaving little room for anything else other than time with Heloise. Hermione still had work to go to, and Draco had taken on the project of compiling his original recipes, mostly out of boredom. It was now September and Heloise had school, so most days Draco would pick her up from school and either take her to the park or walk her home to her grandparents' house. Draco rarely spent time at Malfoy Manor anymore, mostly because he preferred Hermione's and Heloise's company but also to avoid his mother. She hardly noticed his continued absence.

Hermione had never been busier or happier with her life. The beginning of the school year was also the beginning of the busier time of year for the ministry. Her time was divided between her family, work, and house-hunting, leaving little time for her friends. She still ate lunch with the boys on a regular basis, but she rarely saw Jule anymore. Ron too seemed busy; he and Ariel had begun baby-proofing their home, buying baby equipment (cribs and the like) and thinking of names. Harry often found himself without any friends, but he put the time into being with Ginny instead, which suited him fine.

Hermione could scarcely believe the rate at which her life was changing. Five years of loneliness and hard-work were finally paying off both in her family and work life. The minister was listening to her ideas more and had allowed her to sit in on meetings with him. Draco was always around and Heloise was warming up to her as never before. There had always been distance between Hermione and her child because Hermione had never been much of a mother. She was a particularly maternal person to begin with, and her inability to care for her child had resulted in Heloise's complete dependence on her grandparents for support. Hermione had rarely visited and, when she had visited, had rarely had anything to say. The presence of Draco helped change that immensely; he had a natural connection with Heloise and the two were quite taken with one another. Heloise had even started calling Draco Daddy. While Hermione found this cute, she couldn't suppress a bit of jealousy: she had always been Mama, never Mummy or even Mum. While Hermione knew she had herself to blame for this dysfunction, she couldn't help but be somewhat irked by Heloise's preference.

Hermione and Draco had agreed early on that the best thing would be to find a new flat rather than a house. Hermione had no wish to move to the suburbs and she saw no need for a townhouse like her parents. They were relatively unhindered by money constraints because Draco had more than enough money and Hermione was well-off, but they had agreed that Draco should contribute no more than Hermione could so that they would remain equals. They had also decided to try to find an apartment around other witches and wizards so that Heloise could learn more about her heritage. Hermione had told Heloise the very basics about her powers from her infancy, but had been reluctant to reveal too much because all of Heloise's friends were muggle children. Hermione knew that young children had no skill for hiding secrets as important as magic.

So, taking all of their preferences into account, Hermione and Draco were very lucky to find a lovely apartment in an almost exclusively wizarding section of London. The area was very close to Diagon Alley and catered mostly to young witches and wizards wanting a taste of London. The apartment, which had been discovered by Draco, was large and spacious, the perfect place for a "growing family" as he put it. There were four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a large living room, a lovely dining room, and an incredible kitchen. The beauty about wizarding apartments was that they were completely unconstrained by reality. The building was rather small, and from the outside it looked like the apartments would be tiny and cramped, but magic made it possible for the apartments to be is large or small as desired. They could even be altered by the inhabitants.

"It's lovely, Draco," Hermione twirled around the living room, imagining her large television decorating one of it's walls. "But do we really need this much space? After all, there are only three of us."

"Well," Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione. "You and I can have the master bedroom, Heloise can have one of the smaller rooms, you can make another bedroom an office and study and then we can have a guest bedroom." Looking into her eyes Draco smiled. "Besides, what if we had another baby? We were both only children, do you want Heloise to be alone too?"

Hermione's eyes widened. She had honestly never thought about having more children. "You don't know what I'm like when I'm pregnant, Draco," she smiled. "I was very moody. You were lucky enough to miss it with Heloise, you sure you want to experience it now?"

Draco grinned back. "My love, you're always moody. It hasn't stopped me yet."

Hermione laughed. "I love it Draco. It's perfect. Can we afford it though?"

"Well, if we wanted to buy it, that would be almost all the money we had agreed we could spend. Or we could rent, but I think in the long run that might be more. There aren't many of these magical apartments, you know, so I think we should get while the gettings still good. I'm for buying it." Draco led her by the arm to the huge kitchen. "I mean come on, have you seen this kitchen? I could cook for us every day in here!"

Hermione bit her lip. It was tempting. But did she really want to spend all her money? And how could she be sure this was the best thing out there? Ever the reluctant shopper, Hermione was wracked with indecision. "I still don't know, Draco. It seems like a lot. Could we even still afford to furnish it afterward?"

Draco thought for a moment. "How about we bring Heloise over and see if she likes it? Could that sway you my way at all?"

Hermione considered this. "Well, she would be living here too, so I guess it makes sense that we ask her opinion."

"Great!" Draco check his watch. "She's getting out of school right now, so how about I pop over and get her while you stay here and think about where you're going to put all your books." With that he grinned and disapparated.

Hermione, still biting her lip, roamed the apartment by herself. It was a wonderful space. The master bedroom was perfect for Draco and her, and she could imagine Heloise having the smaller bedroom next to it. Passing that she saw the next room and imagined bookshelves lining the walls, all her favorite texts ready for the reading. She could picture herself sitting at a desk in front of the expansive window, working on some piece of legislation and glancing outside at the street below. Leaving this room Hermione moved on to the last bedroom. The apartment was brand new and had never been lived in before, but for some reason the builders had seen fit to make this room into a nursery. The walls were powder blue with magical creatures painted along the top of the walls and the carpet was soft and squishy. The window was a charming little stained glass piece of art depicting a young witch, basically a child, flying under the moonlight with her teddy-bear in tow. A mobile hung from the ceiling and Hermione touched the floating stars and moon that hung from it. Smiling, she touched her own stomach. She could imagine having another child with Draco, only this time she would do it the right way.

"We're back!" Draco's excited voice called from the living room. Heloise squealed with delight as she ran through the huge apartment. Draco found Hermione gazing at the mobile and, sneaking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and nestled his head in her shoulder. "So, what do you think?" He whispered. "Heloise seems quite taken with it already."

Hermione turned and brushed his lips with her own in a brief, tender kiss. "I love it," she whispered back.

"So do you want to make this the guestroom then?"

Hermione shook her head. "I want to have another baby," she said, still whispering. Draco grinned widely.

"I think I could agree to that."

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Because there was no one already living in the apartment it was relatively simple to get all the paperwork done so that Hermione and Draco owned the apartment jointly. Only a week after deciding the buy the apartment it was in their names, and only another week later they were ready to start moving in. They had already agreed to use most of Hermione's furniture; everything Draco owned was a part of Malfoy Manor and his mother didn't want him taking it away. She had quickly warmed to the idea of Draco moving out for good and hadn't questioned him much about where or with whom. This suited Draco fine as he had no interest in telling her.

It was little work to move most of Hermione's furniture: Draco and Hermione would each grab hold of the item, apparate to the new house, and move things about until they were satisfied. Pretty much all the heavier pieces were moved in one day. Then it was a matter of packing all of they're books and clothing into boxes to be apparated to the new place. Draco had agreed to move most of his family's library to the new place because Narcissa rarely read: she claimed the strain on her eyes would cause her to develop ghastly wrinkles. Within three days all of Draco and Hermione's things had been moved. It was now time for Heloise.

Heloise had some difficulty, at first, grasping the concept of moving. She hadn't completely realized that she would be leaving her grandparents. While this caused a few tears and a very upsetting temper tantrum, Heloise eventually decided that, as long as Draco was there, she wouldn't mind living with her mother terribly. When she was told that she could decorate her room as she saw fit she was positively ecstatic.

Heloise's first order was that the walls be pinstriped yellow and blue and that the ceiling be painted to look like the night sky. Hermione did her one better by spelling the ceiling in every room but the nursery in imitation of the Great Hall at Hogwarts; Heloise could now see the outside sky in every room. Hermione had decided that the nursery should remain unspelled, so that when they had a baby there would be no thunder storms to frighten it.

Heloise's second order was that all of her toys were moving with her. And she had a lot of toys. Not only had the Grangers doted on their granddaughter to some extent, but Hermione had often bought Heloise toys to salve her guilt over being a terrible mother. Shelves had to be added to the walls to accommodate the vast number of toys.

The third order was that she wanted a new bed. Heloise had a very nice bed, but now she wanted a canopy bed with a yellow canopy to match the walls. Draco had thought the idea very cute and had even thrown in a matching yellow armoire for Heloise to hang her clothing. And that was Heloise's room.

The master bedroom was basically made into a replica of Hermione's old bedroom because it held her bed and all of her other furniture. The only difference was that most of the books from Hermione's old flat now lived in the office. There were two walk in closets in the master bedroom, and they were quickly filled with Hermione and Draco's clothing. The dining room held Hermione's old table and chairs and the living room held her couch and television. Draco threw in a very nice muggle sound system he had found, because that way he could listen to music from the kitchen.

The kitchen became Draco's domain. It had already been furnished quite nicely, but they added the decorations from Hermione's old place. Then Draco banished Hermione from the kitchen and told her she could only return to get drinks or snacks. He didn't want her burning any food in his perfect kitchen. He filled a small shelf in the kitchen with several cookbooks and a journal of the recipes he had begun to compile.

Then they were done moving in.

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"Maybe we should get to know our new neighbors," Hermione suggested as they finished with the last box of books for the library. "Now that we're moved in we should try to find some friends here. And I'll bet there are some kids for Heloise to play with."

"That sounds reasonable," Draco agreed. "I guess we could have a house-warming party, or something. Invite the neighbors over for drinks and snacks or something."

"You just want an excuse to cook in the new kitchen," Hermione smirked at him. "Sounds fine with me though, I want to get to know everyone."

So later that afternoon Hermione went from door to door along their floor meeting people.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger, and I've just moved in down the hall," she greeted the witch who lived next door.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Felice," the woman smiled. She spoke with a heavy Spanish accent and seemed to be about thirty. "You took that big apartment over there all alone?"

"Oh no, my boyfriend and our daughter are here also," Hermione smiled. "I was wondering if you might like to come over tomorrow around eight? We're trying to get to know our new neighbors."

"That sounds wonderful," the witch smiled. "Can I bring my daughter? Maybe Evelyn and your..."

(A/N: Felice is pronounced Fay-leese and Evelyn is Eh-veh-leen. I would have put accents on their names to imply this, but I doubt they would load properly.)

"Heloise."

"Lovely, Heloise. Well, maybe they could hit it off? How old is the little one?"

"She'll be five in December."

"Wonderful! Evelyn just turned five a week ago!"

"Congratulations! Well, this is wonderful. I hope I'll see you both tomorrow," Hermione smiled. How perfect!

"Yes, we will be there."

Hermione shook the woman's hand and moved on down the hall.

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The next night saw several guests at Hermione and Draco's. Along with Felice and Evelyn, there were two wizards living as roommates named Ted and Stan, an older married couple with a daughter at Hogwarts (Ravenclaw house) and another young married couple who had just moved in a little before Draco and Hermione.

"So, are you two planning on getting married?" Carl, the young married man asked Draco over drinks.

"I guess so," Draco shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it. We just moved in together after all, but we are thinking of having another baby."

"But you two must have been together for a long time now!" Carl's wife, Lydia, interjected. "Heloise is almost five isn't she?"

Heloise and Evelyn had hit it off immediately. They were in a corner of the living room together, both concentrating very hard on a feather. As it slowly started to hover the two laughed and clapped their hands in accomplishment. Hermione and Felice, who also seemed to have taken a liking to each other, were chatting over wine not far from the little girls, watching their attempt absently. Hermione smiled and shot Draco a look as the feather hovered.

"Yes, but we had her very young," Draco shifted uncomfortably. He didn't feel like telling the whole sordid story right now. "We were sweethearts during school, you see, but we haven't been together for most of Heloise's life. We only recently got back together and decided to move in together." Carl and Lydia seemed to accept this. "So, you two thinking of children at all?" Draco sipped his drink.

Carl looked slightly taken aback and Lydia looked thoughtful. "Well, we only got married three months ago," Carl objected weekly.

"Well, no time like the present," Draco clapped him on the shoulder. "Will you two excuse me?" He made his way over to Hermione and Felice.

"Well, they seem to like each other," he nodded towards the girls after kissing Hermione's cheek.

"Yes, it is good for Evelyn to make a new friend," Felice smiled. "We don't know very many people here. We moved from Barcelona about a year ago, but it is hard to find wizarding children."

"If you don't mind my asking, where's Evelyn's father?" Draco asked at length.

"We are divorced," Felice replied shortly, sipping her wine. Draco kicked himself mentally.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," Hermione touched Felice's arm.

"Don't worry, it was completely my decision," Felice smiled. "It was one of those pureblood arranged marriages, but I eventually discovered that I had... other preferences."

Draco nodded. "I was almost married off to a girl named Pansy Parkinson," he supplied. "But I told my mum I'd rather slit my throat, so she left me alone."

"Perhaps I should have tried that tactic with my father," Felice laughed softly, dark eyes shimmering gently.

"Well, I've never understood the whole arranged marriage thing," Hermione announced. "I'm muggle-born," she added for Felice's benefit. "How could parents be so controlling?"

"It is not only us magical folk," Felice explained. "I have learned that the muggle nobility practiced arranged marriage for a long time. Wasn't the marriage of your muggle prince something like that? It has always been this way amongst aristocracy; a way to ensure the blood being carried on is good."

"Inbreeding creates genetic disorders," Hermione announced loftily. "And the marriage between Prince Charles and Lady Diana is simply too upsetting to speak of," she pretended to sniff. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Do I look like a genetic disorder to you?" He demanded.

"You are very pale, dear," Hermione smirked.

Felice laughed. "It is good to see a happy couple. You two have my best wishes. But I think Evelyn is getting tired," she gestured to wear the little girls were crossly fighting over the feather. "I think it is time I take her home. Good night."

She picked up the discontented toddler and carried her out. Heloise was looking irritable, so Draco decided it was time to put her to bed as well.

The evening wore on, but Hermione and Draco ended it fairly early because Hermione had work the next day and Draco was bored. They decided that overall they preferred Felice to the rest of their new neighbors.

"I think I should introduce her to Jule," Hermione commented as they climbed into bed once all the neighbors had left.

"Oh, what for?" Draco fluffed his pillow.

"So we can fix them up. I personally think they would hit it off immediately."

"Huh?" Draco seemed confused. "I doubt that Felice is a lesbian. She was married, after all. To a man."

"Ah, but it was an arranged marriage," Hermione smirked. "And didn't you hear her? She distinctly said "other preferences."

"I think you're mad, but if you want to try it, that's your decision," Draco shrugged.

"Good, because I think it's a great idea," Hermione cuddled up to his side.

They turned off the lights an lay in silence for a few moments.

"Hermione?"

"Mmmmm?"

"What do you think about marriage?" Draco asked.

Hermione sat up next to him. "I don't know. I never thought much about it."

"Would you want to get married? I mean, if we're having another baby, and what with Heloise and all, maybe we should make things official."

Hermione paused. "Is that a proposal?"

"I guess."

Hermione leaned over and kissed Draco's lips in the dark. "And is that a yes?" He asked against her lips.

"Yes," Hermione whispered, kissing him again.

TBC...

OK, that's it for right now. Next chapter: the meeting of Jule and Felice. And, once more I ask, anyone up for a Jule story? Because I'm only writing it if people will read it.


	9. Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Chapter 9: Matchmaker, Matchmaker

"So why exactly have you invited me over?" Jule asked as she lounged on Hermione's couch, surveying the new living room and absently sketching on the open book in her lap. Jule had taken to sketching almost constantly of late, and when forced to leave her desk she would take the sketchbook with her. "I mean, nice digs and all, but I know you have some other reason."

It was about noon on the Saturday after Hermione and Draco had met their new neighbors. Draco was out, doing God knew what, and Heloise was playing at Felice's apartment.

"Can't a girl just want to spend time with her friends?" Hermione asked, stretching out next to Jule. She surveyed her friend, taking in Jule's modest appearance. Jule dressed plainly, as she had been of late, in black pants and a long black sweater. Hermione suspected she wore the long sleeves to mask the scars still decorating her wrists. Jule now wore little make-up, but she did have all her piercings in place. Her hair was as it usually was, short and brown.

"Not you. You're always too busy," Jule frowned and erased something. "You pregnant yet?"

"What?" Hermione started, shocked by Jule's question.

"When you went to the bathroom I looked around. You have a nursery. You're either expecting or hopeful."

"Well, we haven't gotten pregnant yet, but we've decided to try. And Draco proposed," Hermione smiled in satisfaction at Jule's shock.

"You bitch, you never said anything! Where's the ring?" Jule demanded, finally setting aside her book.

"He hasn't gotten it yet. He didn't do the whole down on one knee thing. He just asked while we were in bed." Hermione practically glowed with happiness.

"What, right in the middle?" Jule raised her eyebrows.

"No," Hermione tossed a pillow at Jule. "Pervert. We were going to sleep."

"You said yes I assume?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, Jule. After five years of pining for the man, baring his child, moving in together, and planning for another baby my answer was no. Of course I said yes you idiot!"

"Well that nice, but I still don't know why I'm here," Jule began sketching again.

"Just call it a whim of mine," Hermione smiled mischievously as the door bell rang. "Oh my, I wonder who that could be?" She made her way to the door, still smirking evilly. "Hey, Felice," she opened the door. "Brought the girls over for lunch?" Hermione was answered as the two toddlers ran shrieking through the door to get to Heloise's room.

"Yes, we are here for food," Felice smiled.

"Jule, why are you here?" Heloise was saying in the living room as Hermione led Felice in.

"You know, I was just asking your mother that very same thing." Jule embraced the girl familiarly. Hermione had already introduced the two a while ago, and Heloise had immediately taken to Jule. Jule, of course, had been enchanted by the 'mini-Dramione' as she put it. "I guess I'll be eating lunch with you guys, if that's okay?" Jule raised an eyebrow at Hermione who now stood blocking Felice from view.

"If you'd like to Jule," Hermione said, smirking at her friend. "Jule, this is Felice," Hermione stepped aside to reveal her neighbor, delighting as Jule's eyes widened. Felice was really quite pretty with long, black hair and flashing black eyes set in a fair complexion and aristocratic facial structures. She was taller than either Jule or Hermione and almost irritatingly slender. She was wearing a plain, long dark red sun-dress that day, loose cool cotton that nonetheless flattered her lovely figure. "This is my friend, Jule," Hermione told Felice. Jule leapt from the couch to shake Felice's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," Jule murmured, the shyest Hermione had ever seen her.

"The pleasure is mine," Felice murmured back, gazing at Jule under long lashes.

Hermione could only smile as she watched her two friends.

Hermione had five sandwiches in the refrigerator, one for each of them, that Draco had made that morning. He usually left some prepared food around when he went out so that his child and fiancee wouldn't, in his words, "starve to death or be poisoned by someone's" a pointed look towards Hermione, "horrid cooking." So Hermione happily handed out the sandwiches today and sat at the table to eat with her friends. Heloise and Evelyn chose to eat in Heloise's room, well away from the irritating adults.

"So, how do you two know one another?" Felice asked over lunch.

When Jule seemed disinclined to say anything, Hermione decided to explain. "Jule's from New York in the States, originally. She went to Hogwarts with me seventh year."

"How fascinating," Felice gazed at Jule. "And what do you do now, Jule?"

Jule still remained silent, picking at her sandwich noncommitally.

"She's a fashion designer," Hermione cut in. "She founded GemKay."

"Congratulations," Felice's accent almost made her words into a purr. "You have a good company. I have been to your store in Diagon Alley. It is very... interesting."

"And what do you do?" Jule at last spoke in a quiet voice, brown eyes meeting Felice's black.

"I am an artist. Evelyn and I live off my inheritance while I create my paintings," Felice took a sip of water. "Would you like to see some of my work?"

"Maybe another time," Jule stood abruptly. "Excuse me Hermione, but I really must be going. I have some work to do at the shop." Grabbing her sketchbook Jule was gone.

"Sorry about that," Hermione eventually apologized awkwardly, irritated at Jule's strange behavior. "She's usually a very friendly person."

"Don't worry," Felice smiled softly. "She seems very interesting. I must admit, I find myself quite... taken with her." Her smile became ironic. "I think, if Evelyn is finished eating, it's time we too left. I have a painting I need to work on."

"Of course," Hermione escorted Felice and Evelyn to the door. "See you later!"

She then cleaned the dishes by hand, forgetting to use magic in her irritation with Jule.

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"And she just left! Just like that!" Hermione stormed. "It was humiliating, how could she have been so rude?"

"Maybe she was embarrassed," Draco offered from his customary reading place on the couch. "And not so loud, you'll wake Heloise." It was almost one in the morning.

"Embarrassed, what on earth do you mean?" Hermione threw herself down next to him.

"Maybe she didn't want to be set up by the woman she used to be in love with," Draco shrugged.

Hermione thought this over. "No, it can't be that. She told me herself she had gotten over that years ago. It's something else."

Draco seemed to consider this. "Well, she hasn't been with anyone serious, right?"

"Not that she's told me."

"Maybe she's shy. I don't think she's ever approached anyone looking for a serious relationship before, other than you perhaps."

Hermione kicked his shin lightly. "Whatever, come on, I'm ovulating." And they adjourned to the bedroom.

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The next day Hermione apparated into the GemKay shop in Diagon Alley. She knew Jule was there because Jule spent every Sunday afternoon, when the shop was closed, going over the weeks receipts with the manager.

"Jule, I have to talk to you," she grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her from the register where she had been chatting quietly with her employee.

"What are you doing? I'm at work!" Jule protested.

"Just what exactly were you thinking of when you suddenly decided to disappear yesterday?" Hermione demanded. "I put a lot of thought into getting you two to meet and you had to mess it all up by being all shifty and suddenly vanishing without a proper explanation! What is the matter with you?"

Jule flushed in embarrassment and anger. "I didn't ask you to set me up, Hermione Granger! My personal life is absolutely none of your business!"

"What personal life?" Hermione demanded incredulously. "I know for a fact that you haven't been on a date in centuries! All you ever do is sit around and draw!"

Jule flushed even darker, if that were possible. "I can do whatever the hell I want to! It's my fucking life!"

"Well excuse me for wanting one of my dearest friends to find a little happiness!" Hermione exclaimed. "You are absolutely ridiculous, you know that? I can tell perfectly well that you liked her."

Jule looked away.

"Aha! See, I knew it," Hermione stated triumphantly. "Admit it, you thought she was fabulous."

Jule looked down. "She was fine."

"So why did you have to go and be all crazy?"

"I have no idea!" Jule burst out. "Maybe because I'm fucking out of my mind! Maybe because the last time I tried to get close to anyone I ended up slitting my fucking wrists!"

Now it was Hermione's chance to look away.

"So, did I completely scare her off?" Jule asked at length.

Hermione grinned. "No. Her words were, and I quote, 'I find myself quite... taken with her.'"

"What the hell does that mean?" Jule sulked.

"It means she likes you, idiot," Hermione slapped her arm playfully.

Jule smiled slightly, looking at her hands in fascination. "Can't imagine why..." she trailed off, pulling back her long sleeve to run fingers over the red scar across her wrist. It were long, thin, and straight, slashed carefully with a razor. "Look at me."

"I can imagine why," Hermione whispered, grasping the trembling wrist in her own hand. "Because you're beautiful, thoughtful, funny, and by far the coolest witch I've ever met."

Jule snorted. "Beautiful..."

"Who had everyone at Hogwarts practically worshiping them seventh year?" Hermione demanded, hands on hips.

"That was then," Jule laughed bitterly. "I was young, my hair was long, I wore those ridiculously revealing clothes... It was lust."

"I think you look much better now," Hermione brushed her hand over Jule's shorn locks. "You look like you dress to please yourself, not other people. And short hair suits you."

"She really said she liked me?" Jule asked after some time.

"I swear on Draco's life," Hermione held her hand up in pledge.

"Swear on his sweet ass, I'll believe you better," Jule laughed.

"I'll swear on whatever you want if you swear to send her an owl." Hermione waited for Jule's nod of agreement before grinning broadly and kissing Jule's cheek. "Great. Well, I've got to go. I'm ovulating and Draco's waiting." Jule grimaced as Hermione laughed and disapparated.

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"Hermione, could Evelyn spend the night here?" Felice stood in Hermione's doorway, eyes glowing softly.

"Of course, she's welcome anytime," Hermione looked Felice up and down. She was definitely happy about something. "Is anything up?"

"I am to have dinner with your friend," Felice blushed prettily. "I expect I will be back after Evelyn's bedtime, so I thought I should make sure she was taken care of."

Hermione grinned broadly. "Have you and Jule got a date, then?" She laughed as Felice blushed darker. "Lovely. Of course, anytime you need a sitter, don't hesitate to ask us. Even if I'm not here, Draco's always around." The girls like him better anyway, Hermione thought wryly.

"Thank you, Hermione," Felice looked up, smiling gently. "It has been... a long time since I have been out."

"Well, hopefully that's all changed now, eh?"

"Yes, hopefully. I will see you later," and Felice made her way down the hallway, still smiling her gentle smile.

Jule became a frequent visitor after the point. She was often to found lurking at either Felice or Hermione's homes, sketching by herself, playing with the children, or smiling secretively at Felice.

"I have to admit, I don't think I've been this happy in years," Jule confessed to Hermione one day, sketching absently.

"What are you always drawing?" Hermione demanded. "It can't only be designs." Before Jule could stop her, Hermione had grabbed the book from her hands. Flipping through it's pages she found several dresses, a sketch of Draco holding Heloise, one or two of Evelyn, and many of Felice. "Well, well."

"My high school book has about a thousand of you," Jule admitted off hand. "Not always in... decent poses, either." She smirked at Hermione's blush. "So, pregnant yet?" It was now almost November and Hermione and Draco were still trying.

"No," Hermione sighed. "I guess I only get pregnant by accident, huh?"

"No worries, baby-making is a hard business," Jule patted her arm comfortingly. "After all, if it were easy I'd have about fifty by now."

"Jule, when's the last time you even slept with a guy?" Hermione joked. Jule thought this over.

"I'd say two years," she stated eventually. "I sort of lost my taste for them after that though. I think I've always sort of leaned more in the other direction anyway."

"I'll say," Hermione murmured. "You and Felice... well, you know, yet?"

"A lady never tells," Jule responded primly, snatching her book back from Hermione's grasp, but she was smiling slyly.

"You really draw people well," Hermione commented after a moment. "You shouldn't just limit yourself to designing, you know. I bet you could have an exhibition or whatever."

Jule shook her head. "There's more money in clothing. And nobody cares about sketches alone and I can't paint for shit."

"Maybe you should ask Felice for some lessons," Hermione teased, wagging her eyebrows. Jule threw a cushion at her.

November moved by happily and quietly. All of Hermione's friends seemed to be flourishing. Ariel was getting larger, almost alarmingly so, Jule and Felice were blissfully dating, and Harry had confessed to Hermione that he planned to propose to Ginny at Christmas. Draco, however, had still failed to give Hermione an engagement ring.

"How can we start planning the damn thing if it isn't even official yet?" Hermione demanded one evening. "We live together, we're going to have another baby, and you still haven't made our engagement real!"

Draco shrugged. "The timing should be right. And I still don't have the ring that I want yet."

"Draco, it's just a ring. I don't care what it looks like, I just want to get married!" Hermione exclaimed, collapsing on their bed.

"You sure you aren't pregnant yet? Because you seem pretty moody," Draco smirked.

"I just don't want to have to wait until I'm already grossly pregnant before we're married," Hermione sighed. "You can get that, right?"

"Yes," Draco sighed, a long suffering look on his face. "Just let me do things in my own time, okay? We've been moving so fast that you seem to forget we have all the time in the world."

December arrived, and with it Heloise's birthday. Heloise made a great deal of turning five, lording the prospect of her increasing age and mounds of presents over Evelyn, conveniently forgetting that Evelyn had gone through the exact same thing only a few months prior. The adults in Heloise's life didn't help a thing because they all spoiled her rotten.

Jule made Heloise a special birthday dress, a pale blue affair with a poofy skirt and sleeves and a yellow satin ribbon tied around the waist. Draco baked a special birthday cake decorated with blue flowers and "Happy Birthday Heloise" written in blue frosting. Hermione enchanted the living room to look as though it was covered in frost while tiny artificial snowflakes fell from the ceiling only to dissolve into nothingness before hitting the ground.

The guests at the party were Hermione's parents, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Ariel, Jule, Felice and Evelyn. Heloise had not been allowed to invite any muggle children because of all the magic and Evelyn was her only magical friend. But Heloise wasn't bothered by this: the fewer children the fewer rivals and the more adults the more people to dote upon her. Evelyn was her only competition and Jule hadn't helped their rivalry by making a dress identical to Heloise's in pink with a black sash for Evelyn. The two girls looked liked complete opposites, what with Heloise's fair coloring and Evelyn's darker complexion.

So Heloise had her cake, rubbed Ariel's swollen belly, was held by every adult, and then got to open the hideously large mound of presents. From her grandparents Heloise had received a china doll in her exact likeness. From Jule she received more dresses, from Harry and Ginny she received a toy broom which let her hover up to three feet off the ground, from Ron and Ariel she received winged roller-skates with which she could hover up to four feet off the ground, from Felice and Evelyn she received a painting of her and her parents, from Hermione she received a silver locket with her name inscribed into it and a tiny jewelry box and from Draco she received a jack russell terrier puppy. This last gift was, of course, her favorite.

"I hope you know that you'll be taking care of it," Hermione had looked accusingly at Draco. "Because God knows she isn't and I personally cannot stand dogs." But she also smiled when the puppy licked her hand and wagged his tiny tail.

"Your new name is Snuffles," Heloise cried in delight, cuddling Snuffles to her chest.

Harry raised his eyebrow at Hermione. "Funny, he doesn't look much like Sirius." He smiled sadly.

"It's just lucky that dear old Crookshanks didn't live to see the day when I would be living with a dog," Hermione sniffed, remembering the death of her beloved pet one year earlier. Crookshanks hadn't been young when Hermione had gotten him, but he had died a happy old cat.

A little after opening her presents, the excitement of the day, along with playing too much with Snuffles, caused Heloise to grow cranky and Hermione had to put her to bed. Snuffles, already a very devoted puppy, followed right behind them and curled up at Heloise's feet.

"Happy birthday, darling," Hermione kissed her daughter's forehead as she tucked her in.

"G'night Mummy," Heloise muttered sleepily.

Hermione returned to the living room and the guests smiling. "She called me mummy," she whispered to Draco. He returned her smile.

"Well, now that the little ones are down," Draco announced, glancing towards Evelyn napping on the couch. "I have something I would very much like to do." And with that he kneeled in front of a very startled Hermione, took her hand in his and presented an antique diamond ring. "Hermione, I know you already said yes, but to be official, will you marry me?"

Hermione blinked back tears and nodded, laughing, "Yes." Draco placed the ring on her finger and stood to kiss her. "You just love making a scene don't you," Hermione whispered, still crying slightly and grinning broadly.

"I just can't seem to help myself," Draco muttered back, also smiling as they turned to face family and friends.

TBC...


	10. Goin' to the Chapel

Quick question from my beloved readers, if I do write the Jule story, where can I post it? I've been thinking, and I'm confused. Technically it doesn't belong on because it will take place in New York, away from Hogwarts and any Harry Potter characters. However, there may be some offhand mentions of Hogwarts related things, and besides, all my readers are readers. So, where should I post? I was thinking I might use Thoughts?

Chapter 10: Goin' to the Chapel

Hermione loved to stare at her ring. Heloise did too. She would often grab Hermione's hand, pull it close to her own tiny face, and gaze at the ring for long periods of time. Hermione couldn't blame her because that was exactly what she did from time to time.

It was an antique engagement ring, a ring that had been passed down through generations of Malfoys. The band was silver and was thicker than was usual for an engagement ring. It was rather heavy and inscribed with tiny scrawlings, sometimes shaping into little flowers and sometimes staying abstract. As with most ancient wizarding artifacts the ring frequently changed it's appearance, so the minute designs on the band were ever changing which was why it was so fun to look at. The diamond set into it was large and oval-shaped, which suited Hermione just fine. The inside of the band had originally been inscribed with the Malfoy crest alone (an ornate M with a serpent twined around and through it) but Draco had guessed that Hermione wouldn't have appreciated that very much. So he had removed the crest entirely and the band now read, quite simply, "With all my love" in very ornate script. Hermione loved the reassuring weight of it on her finer.

The reason Draco had taken so long to get the ring had been because of his mother's extreme reluctance to be parted with it. Lucius had received the Dementor's Kiss some time before and had later died without his soul, making Narcissa a widow. Since she was still married to a Malfoy, albeit a dead one, Narcissa saw no reason to give up her ring. Draco had eventually had to tell her that he needed it because he was getting married to get her to hand it over. He hadn't told Narcissa who he was marrying until she had already legally signed the ring over to his possession. When she had tried to get the ring back after learning who her daughter-in-law would be Draco had gotten a magical restraining order, making it physically impossible for Narcissa to come within thirty feet of her son or his family. A cruel punishment for any mother, but there are better mothers in the world by far than Narcissa Malfoy.

Harry was put out with Draco's proposal for a little while because it had come so close before his own, but he had eventually shrugged it off and proposed to Ginny at Christmas dinner at the Burrow. Hermione, Draco, and Heloise had all been invited that year and watched as Ginny, crying happily, had consented to becoming Mrs. Potter.

"Everyone's getting married!" Mrs. Weasley had burst into tears herself, throwing her arms around Ariel. She had always been fond of Ariel, but Ariel was now her favorite daughter-in-law because she was currently pregnant with the first of the next generation of Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was delighted with Harry marrying into the family because she had always thought of him as another son anyway.

Angelica Rosa Weasley and Arthur John Weasley Jr. were born two months later on February fourteenth, Valentine's Day. Angelic had rosy cheeks and a dusting of red, Weasley hair on her tiny head. Everyone took her birthday as a sign that she would be a heart-breaker. Arthur was bald, chubby, and ruddy-cheeked. Everyone took his birthday as a sign that he would frequently have his heart broken. Both Ron and Ariel had been slightly surprised by the birth of twins: they had only received one sonogram early on and apparently one of the baby's had been hiding. (A/N: a.k.a. me backtracking to explain something I forgot I wrote earlier :P)

In a comic twist of fate Ginny had discovered shortly after Harry's proposal that she was already two months pregnant. They had a small wedding at the Burrow on January twenty-first, amidst much celebration and a few irritated glares at Harry. Once they were married, however, the Weasleys dropped all hard feelings towards Harry at the prospect of another new baby.

Hermione and Draco's efforts were also rewarded that February on the fifteenth, the day after the twins birth, when Hermione discovered that she was pregnant too. She and Draco agreed to have the wedding on May first, before she started showing. Writing the date on their invitations Hermione could only smile at the significance of this one month in their very strange relationship.

"I think I know what you're thinking," Draco smirked from across the table. "May indeed."

"I guess it makes sense," Hermione smiled back. "May started our relationship. Why shouldn't we get married then?"

"It's a little confusing at times," Draco smiled ironically. "I can never tell if it's May the person or May the month."

"Why not both?" Hermione shrugged. "Either way, I think it's a good thing all in all."

At the news of Hermione Granger's engagement to Draco Malfoy the press had had a field-day. When they learned about Heloise and that Hermione was pregnant again the editors of the Daily Prophet nearly went into apoplectic joy. Such juicy gossip and from the top of the Ministry itself, or at least the top's assistant. There had been much speculation about Hermione giving up work to stay at home with her children, all of which she refuted as spurious. The minister himself chose to stand by Hermione, granting her time off for her honey-moon and a generous maternity leave, on the condition that she come back to work as soon as possible. Hermione had been pleasantly surprised and had agreed at once.

Hermione had managed not to gain more than five pounds by the wedding day and her stomach was still flat, but she did still seem to glow. The gown Jule had kept hidden in her work room was fitted perfectly for her, all sewn by hand the muggle way to fit extra well. It was silver velvet, draped at the bust and in the back and falling into an elegant puddle at Hermione's feet. It even had a long train that followed her as her father walked her down the aisle. Hermione's hair hung down her back in a cascade of brown curls, covered in a transparent silver veil.

Evelyn and Heloise skipped ahead of Hermione, scattering rose petals as Hermione and Mr. Granger marched down the long white carpet towards the alter. Evelyn and Heloise then took places on either side of the alter, Heloise holding Draco's ring and Evelyn holding Hermione's. Hermione took her place at the alter across from Draco, handing her bouquet of lilies to Jule who stood behind her as her maid of honor. After Jule stood Ginny, Ariel, and Felice all dressed in pale yellow silk gowns. Behind Draco Harry and Ron had been pressed into service as somewhat reluctant groomsmen. Heloise stood next to Hermione and Evelyn beside Draco.

The ceremony was short and sweet, presided over by, of all people, Professor Dumbledore.

"Family and friends, we are gathered here today to witness the joyous union of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Today, Beltane, is a most special day for a wedding. Our ancestors saw today as the time to plant their crops, nurturing the seeds to grow into tall, strong plants. So too today we see Hermione and Draco planting this seed of love, to be nurtured and grown through their life together. The Blessings of Mayday be upon both of you," he smiled at his former students. "Now for the vows. Hermione, do you vow to honor, love, and protect Draco for as long as you both shall live?"

Smiling radiantly at Draco, Hermione took the plain silver band that Heloise handed her. "I do," she said as she slid it onto Draco's left ring finger.

"And Draco, do you vow to honor, love, and protect Hermione for as long as you both shall live?" Dumbledore repeated.

Draco cleared his throat. "I do." He slid the thin silver band from Evelyn onto Hermione's ring finger, right next to her engagement ring.

Grinning broadly, Dumbledore threw his hands in the air. "With the power vested in me I now pronounce the two of you husband and wife. You may kiss." Amidst much clapping Draco kissed Hermione deeply. They broke apart as they heard giggles coming from Heloise and Evelyn.

"Hey, we're not the only ones," Hermione jerked her head towards Jule and Felice, who were sharing an equally passionate kiss only a few feet away. The little girls giggled again. By that time Jule had officially moved in with Felice and Evelyn and they were living in their equivalent of matrimonial harmony.

A few of the more traditional witches and wizards in the audience stiffened at the sight of the two women at the altar, but they were eventually won over at the reception.

Hermione and Draco went to the reception long enough to dance the first dance, cut the wedding cake, exchange sips of champagne and sparkling apple cider, and be congratulated by all their guests. They then left Jule in charge of the party, retiring to their apartment to put Heloise to bed and enjoy their first night as a married couple.

"It doesn't feel any different," Hermione confessed to Draco as they lay in bed. "You look the same, you feel the same. The only difference is now we have matching jewelry."

"That and we're forever bound together by un breakable chains of love," Draco joked.

"Oh yeah, that," Hermione joked back. "But I don't know, I thought the change would be more drastic. Like we would be married and suddenly, I don't know, transformed into younger versions of my parents or something. I feel like I should be more mature, more responsible."

"You've always been mature and responsible," Draco pointed out.

Hermione thought for a moment. "Does it make me sound ridiculous if I say I don't feel like an adult? I feel like I'm an imposter or something."

"I don't think there's some drastic change that suddenly makes us more adult," Draco said eventually. "Maybe we're just people. No matter how old we get, we'll still be the same."

"I think there's something oddly comforting in that," Hermione smiling, snuggling closer to Draco. After another moment of silence she spoke again. "Does it bother you that I kept my name? Would you prefer that I was Hermione Malfoy?"

"I think that I like Hermione Granger just fine," Draco kissed Hermione's forehead. "I've never met this Hermione Malfoy person and I don't much want to. Besides, there's already a Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy and we really don't need another one like her."

"But you're glad that we've changed Heloise's name to Malfoy?"

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. "That was your decision, remember. I don't care what you mad people call yourselves as long as I get to hang around you for a while."

"Only a while?" Hermione teased.

"Well, unless you would prefer I stayed longer..." Hermione answered his question with a kiss.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Damien Felix Malfoy was born several weeks early on October thirty-first. Hermione joked that this, and the name Draco had chosen, meant that their child was secretly the son of Satan. Damien, however, proved her wrong by having the sweetest, sunniest disposition of any baby she had ever known. He had brown eyes and pale brown hair, but his features seemed to be identical to those of Draco in baby pictures. Draco joked that they're children were now little clones of each of them who had decided to trade complexions.

Harry and Ginny's daughter, Lily Virginia Potter, was born earlier that fall on August twenty-third. She had Harry's green eyes and Ginny's red hair, but it was a darker shade of red, tinged, perhaps, by her father's dark coloring. He joked that, with Ron's children, they had the Golden Trio reformed, but once Damien was born he relented to allow for a new Golden Quartet, even if it's youngest member happened to be a Malfoy.

Hermione returned to work several months after Damien was born. She had always thought that she would be happiest when working, striving for perfection and reaching the top of her career. She was very much surprised, however, to find herself happiest at home, with all her friends and many screaming infants and toddlers, leaning against Draco's shoulder and watching over her children.

This is Kind of The End, but there is an Epilogue coming.


	11. Epilogue

Due to an excellent review from ghetto-Badass-chicka -a lil goth left, I've realized the perfect way to post Jule's story. I will steal this wonderful idea, and proceed, after this epilogue, to post Jule's adventures within this story. I can't start updating immediately, because I've barely started the first chapter, but soon I will begin to post Jule's stories in a series of chapters. Thank you ghetto-Badass-chicka -a lil goth left!

Epilogue

Hermione waved goodbye as Heloise and Evelyn boarded the Hogwarts Express, happy faces slightly nervous at the prospect of a whole year away from home. But the two girls glanced at each other, each daring the other to confess to fear, and bravely climbed onto the scarlet steam engine.

Felice and Jule held hands and tried not to get too tearful as their daughter left for school. Felice was smiling broadly and Jule was sniffling slightly. Draco saw Hermione wipe away a tear and clasped his arm around her shoulder, smiling and kissing her right above the ear.

How fast these last six years had passed! Evelyn and Heloise were now both ten, but would turn eleven at Hogwarts, away from their parents. The two were blossoming quickly as young witches, each reading through their textbooks over the summer and challenging one another to cast the spells with new, highly polished wands.

They looked like night and day bent over a book together, Heloise's silvery-blond hair cut boyishly short to escape the summer's heat and Evelyn's black hair draping elegantly down her back. They fought over everything from the proper pronunciation of a spell to the best way to apply muggle lip-gloss.

Hermione, now twenty-nine, had taken the day off from work to say good-bye to her oldest child as she went to school. She was now the Minister of Magic, the first female in living history and by far the youngest to ever attain the position. Draco had also taken the day off from the small restaurant he owned in Diagon Alley. It had been open for only a year, but it was already taking off as a great success. Draco had originally been the head chef, but it had cut into his time with his family so he had decided to delegate instead.

Felice and Jule had recently opened a show displaying several of Felice's paintings and many of Jule's sketches. By far the most popular piece was a joint effort of theirs, where Jule had sketched Evelyn and Felice had painted the sketch. Due to their same sexedness they had no more children, but Evelyn was never lonely with Heloise around.

Harry and Ron were both high-level aurors, but in this time of peace they spent most of their time doing paper-work instead of fighting, much to the satisfaction of their wives. Both Ron and Ginny had proved the old Weasley fertility true by having many children. Ariel had recently given birth to her and Ron's fifth child and Ginny was pregnant with her and Harry's fourth. Ginny complained that Ariel had an unfair head start because her first two were twins.

After Damien Hermione and Draco had agreed on no more children: one boy and one girl was perfect for them. And now their little girl was leaving...

"She grew up too quickly," Hermione said tearfully. "She's still just a baby, it's too soon for her to go away."

"Hey, you've had eleven years to prepare for this, I've only had six," Draco joked. Hermione glared at him. "Okay, sorry, not funny. She'll be back at Christmas at least."

"Oh, but that's ages away!" Hermione protested. The girls had found a compartment and were waving furiously from the window. Hermione waved back, trying not to let them see her cry. Then the train was rolling away, taking the girls with it. "It's not fair!"

"She'll be fine," Draco comforted gently. "We've taken care of her and taught her well thus far, she can take over the rest. She doesn't need us anymore."

"You call that comfort?" Hermione demanded, shoving him slightly.

"What I mean is, she's going to be okay. She may always be our baby, but she isn't a baby now. She's growing up and we have to accept that." Hermione sighed, knowing Draco was right. But she still missed her daughter.

"Well," she wiped her eyes after a moment. "At least we get to keep the other one for another five years." She giggled slightly.

"Hey, that's true!" Draco agreed enthusiastically. "So come on, let's go pick him up from school."

And with that the two parents left to attend to their other child, knowing that all they could do was watch over him, teach him as best they could, and then let him go into the world alone. But he would never be alone, because they would be there with him, in his heart and in his mind, just as they were in Heloise's. And that was comforting.

The End For Real

A/N: So, I'm conflicted about whether I want to write about the children going to school or not. I don't know how much I can get out of this same plot. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the story. I love every single one of you who ever reviewed. And tell me if you want a story about the children. Smooches!


	12. It's Over!

I know we aren't supposed to make announcements here, but oh well. OK, so I previously promised to make a story (and add it on to this one) of Jule's life without Hermione and the gang. Yeah, that's not gonna happen... So I'm marking this story as complete (finally!) and offering my sincerest apologies to anyone who was waiting for that story. Sorry! But I'm completely finished with Jule and this story and I'm working on some new things, and some original stuff. Please check out my newer story, Daughter of the Snake, which I will now be updating more regularly. Much love!!!!!!


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